ArticleClinical ethics2017
Beyond individualism: Is there a place for relational autonomy in clinical practice and research?
Article in Clinical ethics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 90 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
90 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Ethical challenges to patient autonomy in the era of artificial intelligence: a systematic review.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2026Pooled it
- The role of acculturation in the process of advance care planning among Chinese immigrants: A narrative systematic review.Palliative medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Relational autonomy: what does it mean and how is it used in end-of-life care? A systematic review of argument-based ethics literature.BMC medical ethics · 2019Pooled it
- The involvement of family in the Dutch practice of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide: a systematic mixed studies review.BMC medical ethics · 2019Pooled it
- Update of the recommendations of the Sociedade Portuguesa de Cuidados Intensivos and the Infection and Sepsis Group for the approach to COVID-19 in Intensive Care Medicine.Revista Brasileira de terapia intensivaPooled it
- Shared Decision Making in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Low Middle Income Countries - A Myth or A Path to Reality: Correspondence.Indian journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Children's participation in assent to paediatric oncology research: experiences of children, siblings and parents.Trials · 2026Article
- From equity to solidarity: how care and relationality transform the debate on justice in genomics.Journal of community genetics · 2026Article
- Beyond the Algorithm: Artificial Intelligence, Clinical Decision-Making, and the Moral Ecology of Care in Africa.Science and engineering ethics · 2026Article
- Exploring barriers to and facilitators of adaptation in family caregivers of stroke survivors: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Nurse Practitioners' Experiences Navigating Treatment Decision-Making Affecting Older People with Neurocognitive Disorders and Cancer.The Canadian journal of nursing research = Revue canadienne de recherche en sciences infirmieres · 2026Article
- Relational Autonomy, Dementia, and AI-Based Care Robots: Ethical Aspects of Using Machines to Care for People with Dementia.Asian bioethics review · 2026Article
- Determinants of women's autonomy in healthcare decision-making in Somalia: evidence from the 2020 demographic and health survey.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- From consultation to choice: gynecologic cancer patients' perspectives on shared decision making in clinical practice - findings from a cross-sectional observational qualitative interview study.BMC medical ethics · 2026Observational
- Kauro, a graph-based chatbot for high-fidelity information transmission conversations.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Relational autonomy in pediatric healthcare: A scoping review.Nursing ethics · 2026Review
- Article
- Navigating tensions between scientific advancement and ethical practice in biobanking: a qualitative study in Japan.Frontiers in genetics · 2026Article
- Culture sensitive care in oncology care settings in Jordan: a qualitative study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Relational trust in outreach with women experiencing street-involvement in British Columbia, Canada: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
30 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The dominant, individualistic understanding of autonomy that features in clinical practice and research is underpinned by the idea that people are, in their ideal form, independent, self-interested and rational gain-maximising decision-makers. In recent decades, this paradigm has been challenged from various disciplinary and intellectual directions. Proponents of 'relational autonomy' in particular have argued that people's identities, needs, interests - and indeed autonomy - are always also shaped by their relations to others. Yet, despite the pronounced and nuanced critique directed at an individualistic understanding of autonomy, this critique has had very little effect on ethical and legal instruments in clinical practice and research so far. In this article, we use four case studies to explore to what extent, if at all, relational autonomy can provide solutions to ethical and practical problems in clinical practice and research. We conclude that certain forms of relational autonomy can have a tangible and positive impact on clinical practice and research. These solutions leave the ultimate decision to the person most affected, but encourage and facilitate the consideration of this person's care and responsibility for connected others.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.