Ethical Considerations for Research on Housing-Related Health Hazards Involving Children (2005) / Chapter Skim
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4 Characteristics of Housing Health Hazards Research
4 Characteristics of Housing Health Hazards Research
Pages 62-75
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From page 62... ...
In addition, unlike biomedical research, there are few market incentives to translate housing health hazards research into improved housing. Although other types of research, including some biomedical research, are also conducted in homes and communities or target economically disadvantaged populations, the focus of this report is on housing health hazards research.
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From page 63... ...
In contrast to most biomedical research, housing health hazards researchers generally enter childrens' homes to collect data and, in some cases, conduct interventions. Research carried out in the home rather than in a research institution raises distinct ethical issues that researchers must address.
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From page 64... ...
. Indeed, the jurisprudence of protecting an individual's privacy has grown beyond that of Fourth Amendment search and seizure law, which protects private property, to include protections from government intrusions into the exercise of certain individual liberties, such as marriage, reproductive decisions, and childrearing practices (Hafetz, 2001)
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From page 65... ...
. Ethical Issues in Entering a Home When people invite someone into their home, they reveal many things about themselves that would not otherwise be apparent and that they might not reveal in other contexts.
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From page 66... ...
Finally, researchers differ from other visitors to the home because they have special expertise about housing health hazards and have opportunities while in the home to identify hazards. These features of the relationship may create role-specific obligations for researchers and their staff.
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From page 67... ...
The target population for some housing health hazards research raises the additional vulnerabilities of poverty and minority status. As discussed in previous chapters, children in low-income families often live in poorquality housing that is associated with higher than average rates of some negative health outcomes.
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From page 68... ...
; this committee shares that view. Housing health hazards research sometimes targets children in lowincome families because it is necessary to include these children in order to adequately understand the hazard or how to ameliorate it.
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From page 69... ...
Approval from the community, while beneficial, is not sufficient. As we suggest later in the report, studies with vulnerable populations also should meet additional criteria to safeguard children in housing health hazards research.
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From page 70... ...
The participant may suffer serious health problems or even die if the cancer spreads, but the researcher is not held responsible for the adverse health outcome because it was not caused by the research intervention. In contrast, research interventions on housing health hazards usually do not pose more than minimal physical risks to children.
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From page 71... ...
In contrast, there are few market incentives to translate housing research into improved housing or reduction of health hazards. There are no
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From page 72... ...
As a result, affected communities may question the need for or the value of additional research. Housing health hazards researchers commonly report that community advisory boards and partners note that previous research has not provided any benefits to the community (Israel et al., 2003; Minkler and Wallerstein, 2003)
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From page 73... ...
The risk estimates of experts ostensibly rely on what are objective criteria, such as magnitude of the hazard and the probability of its occurrence. In research on housing health hazards, the evaluation of the risks of interventions and the balance between benefits and risks is often based on expert opinion.
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From page 74... ...
The factors that lead to discrepancies in risk assessment are also at play in the assessment of the benefits and risks of housing health hazards research. The perceived unfairness of the lack of affordable decent housing may lead community members to demand that researchers improve housing health hazards, not merely study them.
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From page 75... ...
Certain characteristics that occur frequently in housing health hazards research are much less frequent in other types of research. These characteristics need to be carefully considered and their ethical implications taken into account in the design and implementation of the research.
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