[SydPhil] HPS Research Seminars 2016

[Debbie Castle]

Reminder:

Professor Sarah Ferber,
School of Humanities and Social Inquiry.
UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG
' "Healthy Dying": What's in a Name?'

The Healthy Dying Initiative is an Australian public health promotion campaign which aims to educate the public into planning for future palliative care. This article investigates uses of the dissonant term 'healthy dying', from its first use by Robert Kastenbaum in 1979, to the branding of the current Tasmanian campaign. Kastenbaum recognised 'healthy dying' as a paradox, but it has become naturalised as part of an argument about social health, rather than patient health. The paper will show that, unlike terms such as 'good death' or 'dying well', 'healthy dying' is open to considerable distortion according to the aims of governments and health service providers. In particular, the idea of health which posits 'socially healthy' outcomes of cost-saving in palliative care is critiqued here, along with the goal of denial of medical attention to people in aged care. Both goals undermine Kastenbaum's initial more nuanced use of the term.
It should be noted that the paper will not be a bioethics presentation: it is best understood as cultural history of medical ethics. The disciplinary parameters of the paper will be canvassed at the start.
DATE: 21ST  MARCH 2016
PRE-PRESENTATION REFRESHMENTS: 4PM -  HPS COMMON ROOM 3RD FLOOR CARSLAW BUILDING
PRESENTATION: 5PM - CCANSSEA MEETING ROOM, MADSEN BUILDING
CAMPERDOWN CAMPUS

All are very welcome.


Debbie Castle
Unit for History and Philosophy of Science
Room 389
Carslaw Building F07
T: 9351 4226
OFFICE HOURS ARE MONDAY, TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY
9AM TO 430PM

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