Addressing ethical issues in outdoor health practice: a scoping review

Abstract

The Australian Outdoor Health (OH) sector provides diverse practices that support an interconnected human and ecological approach to health and wellbeing. There is an urgent need for the OH sector to develop a comprehensive ethical practice framework, to enable professional recognition and other initiatives to progress. This would bring the sector in line with similar health and wellbeing occupations including social work, psychology, and counselling that have established professional recognition. A key feature of professional recognition is the acceptance of a Code of Ethics or Ethical Framework to guide practice and enhance standing in the field. This scoping review of the literature is undertaken to aid in developing an OH ethical practice framework. Findings suggest the framework should incorporate two overarching themes of beneficence and nonmaleficence, and contain six guiding principles: diversity, equity, advocacy, justice, accountability, and competence. We discuss these findings, situate them within broader OH community and health sector discourses, and make recommendations for establishing an Australian ethical practice framework to assist the move towards professional recognition and drive ethical OH practice.