Recovery Philosophy, Mental Health Nursing Research and the Challenge of Paternalism in Research Ethics Committees

Citation

Nash M, Rolf F, Grundy A, Frawley T, Pearson M, MacLaren J & Nolan F (2025) Recovery Philosophy, Mental Health Nursing Research and the Challenge of Paternalism in Research Ethics Committees. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.70064

Abstract
First paragraph: 1 Introduction Ethical review of research proposals involving human subjects is a fundamental aspect of research governance. The purpose of Research Ethics Committees (RECs) is to ensure that research conforms to ethical and legal standards, particularly that participants' rights are protected (Tusino and Furfaro 2022). Protecting participants may require RECs to adopt a paternalist stance. Paternalism in healthcare, is a process of professional decision-making based on what is felt to be in the patient's best interest (Sandman and Munthe 2010). In research, paternalism concerns RECs making decisions based on what they consider to be in the research participant's best interest. Paternalism contrasts with autonomy, which is usually expressed as the right of competent adults to make informed decisions about their own medical care (Pons et al. 2020). However, as essential as protecting participants in research is Cook et al. (2022) ask: when does protection become paternalism, and who gets to decide this?

Journal
Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing