Réflexion interdisciplinaire et interculturelle sur l'éthique du soin. L'expérience d'échanges France-Québec (2009-2015)

Faced with the turmoil of medical practices caused by the changes in health organisation, directed today more and more towards a search for efficiency, a group of practitioners from Quebec and from France, united by the sharing of the same language, decided to clarify together their professional ethic guidelines. This report is about four seminars that took place between 2009 and 2015 in the Institute of Public Health, Epidemiology and Development (ISPED) of Bordeaux University and also in Quebec Laval University, gathering a panel of around one hundred multidisciplinary and intercultural participants. The working method applied was interactive, based on shared and debated clinical stories taken from the experience of the participants allowing to point out the emerging conflicts in the values set out in the practises. The novelty of this program was assured by the participation of a philosopher in the centre of the debate, from the beginning of the case studies and whose role was to keep the discussion focused for the whole duration of the meeting. This way of working facilitated the emergence of the sources that implicitly form medical thinking and the way medical care is provided. This formula permitted positive exchanges, sustained by the principles of “narrative ethics” (P. Ricœur) and confronted to the strengths and limits of “the ethic of discussion” (J. Habermas). The experience was a success for those who took the time to make the journey and review together their motivations supported by institutions that authorize a critical reflection on normative references.