Presenter Biography
Chrystal is a Senior in the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health's Health Studies major and a Philosophy minor. She also works as a Health Educator at PSU's Student Health and Counseling and as a Research Assistant at OHSU's Oregon Rural Practice Based Research Network, and is BUILD EXITO Scholar and a OHSU-PSU SPH Dean's Scholarship Recipient.
Institution
PSU
Program/Major
Health Studies
Degree
BS
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
4-8-2021 11:02 AM
End Date
4-8-2021 11:07 AM
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/35580
Keywords
quarantine, COVID-19, ethics, public health ethics, COVID-19 quarantine, social determinates
Abstract
Quarantines have been a preventative measure for reducing communicable disease spread for centuries. The method of implementation can vary widely and to some extent requires some level of judgement from enforcing powers, often state police power. As such, historically, some quarantines have been unfairly enforced based on discriminatory practices. COVID-19 has brought about the most widespread and extended quarantine in U.S. history, which makes evaluating the ethics all the more critical. In addition, it is well established that COVID-19 impacts have disproportionately caused harm to populations, such as those who are of a low socioeconomic status and people of color. In order to assess COVID-19 quarantine practices, an ongoing analysis based on qualitative comparisons is being compiled. Comparisons include assessing rights of police power via precedents set by former quarantine supreme court cases, comparing quarantine practices to established health justice principles, and evaluating impact and outcomes through a social determinants of health lens with intergroup comparisons. Better understanding of the ethical implications of the COVID-19 quarantine will allow for a better understanding of how practices can be improved to create more equity in the shared burdens and protections. This can inform future practices, whether pertaining to COVID-19 or another communicable disease. In addition, understanding damages or injustices that may have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic provide a basis for correcting them. Such analysis can also widen the exploration of the intersection of enforcing police powers and public health as they relate to justice and equity.
Included in
Bioethics and Medical Ethics Commons, Community Health Commons, Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Legal Theory Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social Justice Commons
Quarantine Ethics: From Past to COVID-19
Quarantines have been a preventative measure for reducing communicable disease spread for centuries. The method of implementation can vary widely and to some extent requires some level of judgement from enforcing powers, often state police power. As such, historically, some quarantines have been unfairly enforced based on discriminatory practices. COVID-19 has brought about the most widespread and extended quarantine in U.S. history, which makes evaluating the ethics all the more critical. In addition, it is well established that COVID-19 impacts have disproportionately caused harm to populations, such as those who are of a low socioeconomic status and people of color. In order to assess COVID-19 quarantine practices, an ongoing analysis based on qualitative comparisons is being compiled. Comparisons include assessing rights of police power via precedents set by former quarantine supreme court cases, comparing quarantine practices to established health justice principles, and evaluating impact and outcomes through a social determinants of health lens with intergroup comparisons. Better understanding of the ethical implications of the COVID-19 quarantine will allow for a better understanding of how practices can be improved to create more equity in the shared burdens and protections. This can inform future practices, whether pertaining to COVID-19 or another communicable disease. In addition, understanding damages or injustices that may have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic provide a basis for correcting them. Such analysis can also widen the exploration of the intersection of enforcing police powers and public health as they relate to justice and equity.