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Because rural populations are at risk not only for clinically disparate care but also ethically disparate care, there is a need to enhance scholarship, research, and teaching about rural health care ethics. In this paper an argument for the applicability of a virtue ethics framework for professionals in rural healthcare is outlined. The argument serves as an illustration for how philosophical analysis of the ethical dimensions of rural healthcare can contribute practical solutions to rural health problems. An interprofessional multidisciplinary understanding of rural healthcare ethics must go beyond the distinct professional role morality that already develops within different professions. Such an understanding will better explain professional responses to the particular nuances of rural healthcare. Analysis of the distinct ethical nature of rural professional roles offers the potential to capture and explain the complex ethical dimensions of rural situations where access, multiple overlapping relationships, confidentiality, cultural safety, team practice, and/or small community clinician stress are issues. Here the framework is primarily applied to rural dual and multiple overlapping relationships. A key aim is to encourage healthcare professionals to think carefully before avoiding rural practice because of a fear of being unable to meet the ethical challenges associated with the demands of rural overlapping relationships.

This is part 2 of an article split over two consecutive issues of this journal to show a new dimension of the work of Slavoj Žižek, Gibbs Williams and Jacques Lacan. Their work finds congruency to better understand Jung's spiritual philosophy of synchronicity (meaningful coincidence). We achieve this enhanced understanding by adding to our earlier work on place and psychoanalysis. We show that synchronicity is a form of self-transcendence, and stress the importance of place and Heidegger's analysis of temporality to comprehend why synchronicity occurs. This article is a significant contribution to the literature for theoretical and practical reasons. Our work will be vital for psychotherapists who encounter synchronicities in practice as well as philosophers who wish to explain this mystifying phenomenon. Our investigation finds that synchronicities occur outside our causally determined symbolic reality and this sheds light on why Jung described this phenomenon as acausal (cf. cause and causality from Lacan). The 'event' of synchronicity can occur when humans undergo significant psychological change or restructure, providing a deepened and extended understanding of their place in the world. This explains why Jung, a psychoanalyst, was very knowledgeable about synchronicity as he helped deliver psychological change to the analysands who visited him. We add to this by showing its relationship to our philosophy of place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we use a variety of philosophical literature to support and clarify the tenets and importance of a form of nondirective genetic counseling. We do this by referring to the problem of other minds and our philosophy of place which is informed by Jung, Lacan, Heidegger, Malpas and Zizek. Our major thesis is that nondirective counseling is the most ethical way to help a counselee. A genetic counselor cannot enter into the lived first person conscious experience of the counselee and so can never really know the best decisions for each individual person. Ultimately, we argue that in most cases, choices and decisions need to be made by the counselee so that they are able to discover their non-obstructed home or place in the world where their mental health awaits them. We argue that counselee decisions in genetic counseling cannot be prescribed as ‘prepackaged’ solutions because the best outcome is facilitated by the nature of the therapeutic alliance and the unique interaction between the place of each individual counselor and counselee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is split into two parts over two consecutive issues of this journal to show a new dimension of the work of Slavoj Žižek, Gibbs Williams, and Jacques Lacan. Their work finds congruency to better understand Jung's spiritual philosophy of synchronicity (meaningful coincidence). We achieve this enhanced understanding by adding to our earlier work on place and psychoanalysis. We show that synchronicity is a form of self-transcendence, and stress the importance of place and Heidegger's analysis of temporality to comprehend why synchronicity occurs. This article is a significant contribution to the literature for theoretical and practical reasons. Our work will be vital for psychotherapists who encounter synchronicities in practice, as well as philosophers who wish to explain this mystifying phenomenon. Our investigation finds that synchronicities occur outside our causally determined symbolic reality and this sheds light on why Jung described this phenomenon as acausal (cf. cause and causality from Lacan). We argue that the 'event' of synchronicity can occur when humans undergo significant psychological change or restructure, providing a deepened and extended understanding of their place in the world. We believe this is one reason to explain why Jung, a psychoanalyst, was very knowledgeable about synchronicity as he helped deliver psychological change for the analysands who visited him. We add to this by showing its relationship to our philosophy of place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the author comments on the views of author Margaret Lindorff on the need for non-medical researchers to engage with the ethical issues associated with research in Australia. He believes in the importance of researcher engagement in ethics review in promoting dialogues between researchers and review bodies. He highlights the significance of educational leadership in preventing serious problems.

A challenge in end-of-life care is requests by patients or their substitute decision-makers for treatment that doctors consider is "futile" or "non-beneficial". Concerns that these concepts are uncertain and subjective have led to calls for medical policies to clarify terminology and to provide procedural solutions to prevent and address disputes. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of how Australian medical guidelines and policies on withholding or withdrawing potentially life-sustaining treatment address futility. It demonstrates that while the concept is found throughout medical policies and guidelines, the terminology employed is inconsistent. There is also variability in the extent of guidance given about unilateral decision-making and mechanisms for dispute resolution. This is problematic, given that the question of further treatment can often only be determined in relation to the individual patient's goals and values. We conclude by advocating for the development of a unified policy approach to futile or non-beneficial treatment in Australia., Competing Interests: None.