APIC/IPAC-Canada Ethical Infection Prevention and Control (EIPAC) Decision-Making Framework
APIC and IPAC Canada partnered on the creation of a new resource to help healthcare professionals work through ethical issues that arise in infection prevention and control (IPC) and assist in making complex decisions. Published on both the APIC and IPAC-Canada websites, the Ethical Infection Prevention and Control (EIPAC) Decision-Making Framework illustrates how to identify and apply relevant, ethical decision-making principles to the practice of IPC. The new toolkit outlines a step-by-step process for tackling difficult situations and provides a set of scenarios to illustrate how the framework can be applied.
It is hoped the EIPAC Decision-Making Framework will help IPC teams approach difficult issues, especially when there is uncertainty on how to proceed. The guide can be particularly helpful where a values conflict or moral tension exists, or where options exist that could pose a risk of harm to patients, residents, visitors, or staff.
Developed by Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre with healthcare partners in North Toronto, the EIPAC framework was adapted based on an existing ethical framework developed by the Community Ethics Network and the subsequent work of the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics and Trillium Health Partners.