Disclosure of intimate partner violence while studying positive mental health in wheelchair users: ethical dilemmas

Abstract

This case study discusses the ethical dilemmas faced by the researchers when a woman with disability voluntarily disclosed her experience of intimate partner violence during an in-depth interview on positive mental health and resilience in wheelchair users. The interviewer's role as a researcher and public health professional raised dilemmas relating to the tenets of privacy, confidentiality and nonmaleficence. Professionals working with women with disability and similar vulnerable participants should anticipate such ethical challenges around violence and discrimination that such individuals face, and strive to resolve challenges based on basic ethical tenets within a context-informed approach.