New Zealand Ethics Software Scoops UK Award

New Zealand Ethics Software Scoops UK Award

The New Zealand-based developer of software which helps make and track ethical decisions in the health and social care sectors has scooped a major award in the United Kingdom.

The Values Exchange, developed by AUT University Professor David Seedhouse through his company VIDe Ltd, has won the top prize at the prestigious Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards in the Improving Healthcare with E-technology category.

Judges say the Values Exchange was selected for its distinguished and innovative use of information technology to develop an electronic forum for canvassing views for the delivery of healthcare.

Professor Seedhouse, director of AUT University's National Centre for Health and Social Ethics, says the Values Exchange enables people to put forward their opinions, preferences and moral reasoning via a web-based tool.

"It provides democratic debate and a paper trail on topics of professional and personal concern," he says. "The Values Exchange uses a unique single-framework questionnaire which automatically plots and compares values trends, highlighting both difference and consensus across different health and social groups."

The South Staffordshire National Health Service Trust in the United Kingdom installed the system last year. Professor Seedhouse says it is already providing effective decision-making assistance to their staff on issues such as whether a patient should be denied access to certain areas of their home for safety reasons, whether medicines should be disguised if a patient is reluctant to take them and whether staff should restrict a patient's smoking.

AUT students taking Health Care Ethics papers use the software, which Professor Seedhouse has provided for the past three years. Lecturer Rosemary Godbold says the software has spurred students' interest in the subject.

"Before we used the software, students were unenthusiastic about ethics to say the least," says Ms Godbold. "Now they are energised and excited and they produce work of a remarkably high standard."

AUT is the first New Zealand university to teach ethics and social policy using the Values Exchange.

"We think it is the perfect blend for a modern, technological university," says Professor Seedhouse. "It is conceptually clever, uses leading edge software technology and is highly practical and effective."

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