Core Ethical Guidelines
Doulas who design and conduct any sort of research with clients or other doulas are bound by the fundamental principles of research ethics, outlined in the Belmont Report which include:
- Respect for persons – People will be treated as autonomous and will be allowed to decide whether or not they engage in research, and people with diminished autonomy will be protected.
- Beneficence – Research should do no harm, and researchers will strive to maximize benefits while minimizing risk for research participants.
- Justice – Fairness (to access, recruitment, location) will be considered when designing any research study and participants should not be included merely because they are easy to access or are vulnerable and less likely to decline participating. Research conducted should have relevance to the population being studied.
Essential Requirements
Research Integrity Training: Researchers must have knowledge/training about how to conduct ethical research, such as that provided by the Office of Research Integrity.
Conflict of Interest: Research should not be conducted with participants who are paying, or have paid, for services from the end-of-life doula (EOLD) who is also receiving funds as a researcher. This constitutes a dual-role conflict, as one cannot ethically conduct research with individuals who are both financially compensating them and potentially vulnerable due to their need for care.
Informed Consent and IRB Approval: An informed consent process must be engaged for any persons participating in research that is intended for publication and/or wide dissemination (as opposed to internal quality control processes). Details of the specific informed consent process and a protocol of the study to be undertaken must be submitted to an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or a formally recognized ethics committee to determine that the basic principles of ethical research are maintained. No research should commence without specific approval by an IRB or ethics committee. IRBs are maintained by most universities, hospitals, and healthcare systems and can be accessed by the public at large.
Violations of these standards that are brought to the attention of the NEDA Board are subject to a board review regarding consequences, including formal reporting to the relevant IRB or ethics committee.