The everyday ethics of field work research with vulnerable patients

Patients are increasingly involved in health informatics research. Researchers are always aware of the ethical dimensions of their research, but studies in the field with patients--especially among the frail, elderly, cognitively impaired--present specific additional 'everyday moral dilemmas'. Reflecting on experiences of a hospital study of patients with dementia, this paper draws attention on the type and constant presence of this situated ethics, the immediacy of decision-making, and the importance of everyday ethics for health informatics.