Yaşlı bireylerle yürütülen psikoloji uygulamalarına özgü etik meseleler

Son yıllarda artan yaşlı nüfus oranı ile birlikte, birçok farklı meslek grubunun yanı sıra araştırmacı, terapist, eğitimci gibi farklı rollerdeki psikologlar da yaşlı bireylerle eskiye oranla daha fazla çalışmak durumunda kalacaklardır. Bu nedenle yürüttükleri her türlü psikolojik uygulamada (araştırma, terapi vb.), Amerikan Psikoloji Birliği (APA) tarafından yayınlanan Psikologlar İçin Etik İlkeler ve Uygulama Kurallarını benimsemesi beklenen psikologların yaşlı bireylere özgü etik meselelere ilişkin farkındalıklarını da artırmaları gerekecektir. Bilişsel, psikolojik, fiziksel özelliklerinde meydana gelen ciddi değişim ve kayıplar düşünüldüğünde, yaşlı bireylere özgü dikkat edilmesi gereken farklı etik meseleler ortaya çıkabilmektedir. Bu derlemenin amacı, yaşlı bireylerin sahip olduğu özellikler temelinde psikoloji uygulamalarında dikkat edilmesi gereken etik meseleleri, bilgilendirilmiş onam, gönüllülük, mahremiyet, gizlilik, özerklik, istismar ve ihmal başlıkları altında ele almak ve etik kurallar temelinde uygun çözüm önerileri ortaya koymaktır. İlgili etik sorunların sağlıklı bir biçimde çözülebilmesi için psikologların ve diğer ruh sağlığı çalışanlarının, yaşlı bireylerin sahip olduğu özellikler ve bu gruba yönelik mesleki etik kurallar hakkında detaylı bilgi sahibi olarak bu bireylerle çalışma konusunda yetkinliklerini geliştirmeleri gerekmektedir.

Ethical issues specific to psychological practices with elderly people

In recent years, along with the increasing proportion of the elderly population, psychologists in different roles, such as researchers, therapists, educators, as well as many different professions, will work more with elderly people. For this reason, psychologists who have to comply with the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct published by the American Psychological Association (APA) in any psychological practice they conduct (research, therapy, etc.) will need to increase their awareness of ethical issues specific to elderly individuals. Considering serious changes and losses in the cognitive, psychological, and physical characteristics, different ethical issues may need to be paid particular attention to elderly people. In this review, based on the characteristics of elderly individuals, the ethical issues that need to be considered in psychological practice were addressed under the headings of informed consent, volunteerism, privacy, confidentiality, autonomy, abuse and neglect and appropriate solutions for each issue were discussed on the basis of ethical principles. Psychologists and other mental health professionals need to develop their competence to work with elderly individuals by obtaining detailed knowledge of the characteristics of them and professional ethical principles for this group in order to solve the related ethical problems properly.

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