Intrusion into patient privacy: A moral concern in the home care of persons with chronic mental illness

The aim of this study was to identify and analyse ethical decision making i n the home care of persons with long-term mental illness. A focus was place d on how health care workers interpret and deal with the principle of auton omy in actual situations. Three focus groups involving mental health nurses who were experienced in the home care of persons with chronic mental illne ss were conducted in order to stimulate an interactive dialogue on this top ic. A constant comparative analysis of the transcribed audiotaped sessions identified a central theme that concerned the moral symbolic meaning of 'ho me'. This reflected the health care workers' conflict between their profess ional role and their moral role, which they perceived as unclear.