Percorsi di Bioetica empirica in ospedale: tra supporto etico e ricerca sanitaria

Empirical bioethics represents a research field in which empirical, qualitative, and scientific analyses are integrated with ethical analyses, with the ultimate goal of drawing normative conclusions or proposing intervention models that have an impact on the promotion of care. The hypothesis is that for ethical support services to be perceived as a tool with spillover effects on the quality of the care relationship, empirical bioethics research plays a key role because it not only represents an approach that can demonstrate possible evidence-based outcomes, but also provides the reference vocabulary to engage with the medical-healthcare world. After presenting the possible link between empirical bioethics and healthcare research, the manuscript describes a case study related to the implementation of a Bioethics Unit within a research public hospital, paying particular attention to the issue of ethical support and shared decision-making.