Ethical Considerations Regarding Digital Health Services in Home-Based Palliative Care

Abstract

Historically, in-person contact between patients and nurses in home-based care has been pivotal in palliative care and hospice care. The provision of home-based palliative care services could be challenged by the projected increase in patients who need palliative care and by the expected shortage of nurses. Digital health services could constitute one measure for delivering high-quality palliative care, enabling patients to stay home. Nurses often follow up these patients remotely. Because digital health services are increasingly implemented in home-based palliative care, it is imperative that nurses consider the ethical concerns regarding such service delivery. Neglecting ethical concerns could result in unintended consequences for patients and nurses and inhibit care delivery. The aim of this article was to explore ethical concerns of digital health services in home-based palliative care through the lens of the 4 biomedical principles: autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. This study utilized a bottom-up methodology conducting a subanalysis of the results of 2 previous reviews.