Reference no: EM133250955

In "How Should Autonomy of Persons Experiencing Homelessness Be Balanced with Public Health during a Pandemic?," we are presented with a scenerio that I am sure has played out in clinical settings through out many cities in the US. We have a homeless patient, Ms. L, present with what could very well be COVID symptoms but not at a level that requires acute care. She also declines testing and/or isolation housing as opposed to returning to her normal accomodations, which have the potential to impact others in the general public and fellow homeless persons utilizing the same resources. While she has the ability, under patient autonomy, to make these decisions for herself the staff feels a duty to warn others but cannot do so without violating Ms L's patient autonomy. In cases of this nature, should we be able to warn those that these patients may cause harm to which potentially violates their autonomy? Under what theories and principles does this play out? Based on what the authors had to say about the unfair access and disproportionate burden that continues to fall on certain populations in public health crises how do we "recenter the margins" to create more equity in health care and access? How has the pandemic brought to light some of the health inequities that exist in the US? How has the politicization of this issue and the protective measures (vaccines, masking, ect.) further complicate this matter?