Ethical, Standards, and Professionalism

The CNA-ACN Code of Ethics, Standards, and Professionalism outlines our naturological associations’ ethical and associational obligations. The Code upholds our association’s ideals and emphasizes modern naturological treatment practice duties. The Code sets ethical guidelines to help members offer the best natural care and build client and public trust in our association.

This Code defines the ethical practice as active inquiry, reflection, and decision-making about a member’s actions and reasons. In cases of conflicting ideals or inadequate rules, the Code guides ethical decision-making. The Code isn’t meant to provide ethical guidelines for specific situations. The Code and other CNA-ACN policies offer Canadian Naturological Association / Association Canadienne de Naturologie members ethical standards.

This Code defines naturological ethics as the virtues, values, and principles that should guide the association and professionalism as the embodiment or execution of such norms through standards, skills, and behaviours. The Code’s qualities and principles underpin ethical, natural therapy practiced by our members.

Our members must follow the Code’s values & duties and know their local laws and regulations.

CHARACTERISTICS DEMONSTRATED BY OUR ETHICAL MEMBERS

Confidence is the foundation of the client–member interaction and naturological professionalism. Therefore, trust is essential to giving the highest quality of care and practising natural therapy ethically. Members boost their association’s credibility by upholding the following interrelated qualities:

Empathy – A compassionate member sees suffering and vulnerability, attempts to comprehend each client’s particular circumstances and helps alleviate the client’s suffering, and accompanies the hurting and vulnerable client.

Truthfulness– A trustworthy member is upfront, respects the truth, and makes every effort to seek, preserve, and transmit it sensitively and kindly.

Humbleness – A humble member understands and is careful not to exceed the limitations of their knowledge and skills and the limits of natural therapy, seeks advice and assistance from colleagues in difficult situations, and appreciates the client’s knowledge of their circumstances.

Virtue – Even amid difficulty, a member who exhibits purity is consistent in their thoughts and actions and behaves with integrity by associational standards.

Diligence – A wise member employs clinical and moral thinking and judgement, considers all pertinent information and circumstances, and makes decisions with care, a good conscience, and proper regard for the principles of exemplary naturological treatment.

ESSENTIAL OBJECTIVES OF THE CANADIAN NATUROLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

Commitment to the client’s well-being – Consider the client’s well-being first; always act for the client’s advantage and to further their welfare. Provide proper treatment and management across the continuum of care. Take all feasible measures to prevent or minimize injury to the client; remain close to the client if harm is imminent or has happened. Recognize the balance of potential advantages and hazards associated with every naturological act, an act so that benefits outweigh disadvantages.

Commitment to respecting individuals – Always treat the client with dignity and appreciate all people’s inherent values and equality. Always respect the client’s autonomy. Never exploit the sufferer for your benefit. Never engage in or support activities that violate fundamental human rights.

Dedication to justice – Promote the well-being of communities and people by working to improve health outcomes and access to care, reducing health inequities and care disparities, and fostering social accountability.

Dedication to associational ethics and proficiency – Competently, safely, and with integrity practise natural therapy; avoid any influence that could compromise your integrity. Lifelong learning allows you to develop and grow your associational knowledge, skills, and competencies.

Dedicated pursuit of associational excellence – Contribute to the growth and innovation of natural therapy through clinical practice, research, teaching, mentoring, leadership, quality improvement, administration, or advocacy on behalf of the association or the general public. Participate in establishing and maintaining associational standards and help the institutions regulate the association through helpful processes. Cultivate collaborative and respectful connections with members and learners in all areas of natural therapy and with other healthcare colleagues and partners.

Dedication to self-care and social support – Prioritize personal health and wellness and serve as a role model for self-care; optimize the meaningful coexistence of your career and personal life. Promote and value a training and practice culture that responds to colleagues in need and enables them to seek assistance to improve their physical, mental and social well-being. In a shared accountability model, acknowledge and act on the idea that member health and wellness must be addressed at the individual and systemic levels.

Commitment to investigation and contemplation – To advance naturological science and enable ethical decision-making, valuing and encouraging individual and societal inquiry and thought is essential. Foster curiosity and research to increase your personal and associational development and insight; be receptive to new information, technologies, practises, and ways of learning from others.

ASSOCIATIONAL OBLIGATIONS OF MEMBERS AND CLIENTS

The member-client interaction is vital to the practice of natural therapy. It is a relationship of trust that acknowledges the client’s inherent vulnerability, even as the client actively participates in their care. The member owes a duty of loyalty to the client to safeguard and advance the client’s best interests and care goals by utilizing their skills, knowledge, and reasonable clinical judgement.

In the context of the connection between clients  and members

1. Accept the client without prejudice (including age, handicap, gender identity or expression, genetic features, language, marriage and family status, medical condition, naturological concern, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status). This does not negate the member’s ability to decline to accept a client for valid reasons.
2. After accepting associational responsibility for the client, continue to provide services until these services are no longer required or desired, until another suitable member has assumed responsibility for the client, or until the client has been given reasonable notice of your intention to terminate the relationship.
3. Act following your conscience and accept the conscience differences of your colleagues; nevertheless, fulfil your obligation of non-abandonment to the client by constantly acknowledging and responding to the client’s naturological concerns and demands, regardless of your moral commitments.
4. Inform the client when your moral convictions may influence your suggestion for providing or practising any naturological procedure or intervention relevant to the client’s requirements or desires.
5. Communicate facts accurately and honestly to the client so that the client can understand, apply, and confirm the client’s comprehension.
6. Recommend treatment alternatives supported by evidence; understand that inappropriate use or abuse of treatments or resources can result in ineffective and, at times, detrimental client care, and aim to prevent or reduce this.
7. Limit treatment of yourself, your immediate family, and anybody with whom you share a similarly close relationship to minor or emergency interventions and only when another member is not readily available; such treatment should be free.
8. Provide support to anyone needing naturological treatment or medical attention.
9. Ensure that any research you contribute is examined scientifically and morally and approved by a research ethics board corresponding to current ethical standards. When conducting research, get the participant’s informed consent and tell potential participants of their right to decline participation or withdraw from the study at any moment without compromising their ongoing care.
10. Never engage in or condone the practice of torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

Decision-making

Ideally, naturological decision-making is a deliberate process that involves the client in shared decision-making. It is guided by the client’s experience, values, and the member’s clinical opinion. To enhance client-centred care, this decision entails conversation with the client and, with consent, individuals critical to the client’s care (family, caregivers, and other health associations).

In the collaborative decision-making process

11. Empower the client to make informed decisions about their health by communicating with and assisting the client (or, as appropriate, their substitute decision-maker) in navigating reasonable therapeutic options to determine the best course of action for their goals of care; communicate with and assist the client in assessing material risks and benefits before consenting to a treatment or intervention.
12. Respect the competent client’s decision to accept or reject any proposed examination, treatment, or care plan.
13. Recognize the need to balance minors’ increasing competency and the role of families and caregivers in their naturological decision-making while respecting minors’ right to agree to treatment and maintain their health information.
14. Allow a client with cognitive impairments to participate as much as possible in decisions, recognize and support the positive roles of families & caregivers in naturological decision-making and collaborate with them when authorized by the client’s substitute decision-maker to determine the client’s goals of care and best interests.
15. Respect the values and wishes of an incompetent client as they were previously communicated through advance care planning conversations or a substitute decision-maker.
16. When the particular intentions of an incompetent client are unclear, and there is no formal system for making treatment decisions, act following the client’s natural values and aims of care, or if these are unknown, act following the client’s best interests.
17. Accommodate the client’s reasonable request for a second opinion from a reputable naturological member.

Relationship between members and the practice of natural therapy client confidentiality and the obligation of privacy

18. Fulfill your duty of maintaining confidentiality by keeping identifiable client information confidential; collecting, using, and disclosing only the minimum amount of health information required for the client’s benefit; and sharing information only for the client’s advantage within the client’s circle of care. Exceptions include cases where the client’s informed consent for disclosure has been acquired or as required by law.
19. Provide a copy of the client’s naturological record to the client or a third party upon request unless there is a compelling cause to believe that the information within the records may seriously harm the client or others.
20. Recognize and handle privacy obligations within training and practise environments, quality improvement efforts, secondary uses of data for health system administration, and while employing new clinical technology.
21. Avoid healthcare conversations, including personal, public, and virtual ones, that could be construed as disclosing confidential or identifiable information or insulting clients, their families, or caregivers.

Managing and reducing potential conflicts of interest

22. Recognize potential conflicts of interest from competing roles (such as financial, clinical, research, organizational, administrative, or leadership).
23. Enter into affiliations, contracts, and agreements that retain your associational integrity, are consistent with evidence-based decision-making, and protect the client’s or public’s best interests.
24. Avoid, minimize, or manage conflicts of interest that arise or are perceived to arise as a result of any associational relationships or transactions in practice, education, or research; avoid using your role as a member to promote services (except your own) or products to clients or the public for commercial gain outside of your treatment role.
25. When operating on behalf of a third party, you must take reasonable steps to ensure that the client knows the nature and scope of your responsibilities to the third party.
26. Discuss associational rates for uninsured services with the client and consider their ability to pay when establishing prices.
27. When conducting research, advise potential participants of potential conflicts of interest, including the funding source and any remuneration or benefits.

MEMBERS AND SELF

28. Be aware of and promote the availability of health and wellness services and other options for you and colleagues in need.
29. Seek colleague assistance and proper naturological care from professional associations for personal and associational issues that could negatively impact your health and client care.
30. Cultivate training and practice environments that promote help-seeking and support physical and psychological safety.

MEMBERS AND COLLEAGUES

31. Treat your coworkers with decency and as respectable individuals. Colleagues include students, teachers, healthcare partners, and fellow members.
32. Engage in civil conversation across all platforms.
33. Accept responsibility for fostering civility and combating incivility within and outside your association. Avoid impugning the reputation of coworkers for personal reasons; nonetheless, report any unethical behaviour by colleagues to the proper authority.
34. Assume responsibility for your acts and conduct, and engage in conduct that contributes to a positive training and practice culture.
35. Promote and facilitate formal and informal mentorship and leadership opportunities at all training, practice, and health system delivery levels.
36. Support interdisciplinary team-based practises; promote team collaboration and shared client care responsibility.

MEMBERS AND SOCIETY

37. Commit to ensuring the quality of naturological services provided to clients and society by establishing and upholding associational standards.
38. Acknowledge that social determinants of health, the environment, and other fundamental issues beyond naturological practice and health systems are significant factors affecting the client’s and the population’s health and wellness.
39. Support the association’s obligation to intervene in public wellness interests, natural health education, environmental determinants of health, legislation affecting public access to natural-based care, and judicial testimony.
40. Support your association’s role in helping improve access to natural healthcare across Canada.
41. When interpreting scientific information for the public, provide opinions compatible with the association’s current and widely recognized views; clearly, state when you give an idea or opinion contradictory to the association’s mainstream beliefs.
42. Where applicable, contribute to establishing a more cohesive and integrated health system through inter-associational collaboration and, when practicable, collaborative models of care.
43. Commit to collaborative and respectful relationships with Indigenous clients and communities by attempting to comprehend and implement the healthcare-related recommendations in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s report.
44. Individually and in partnership with others, contribute to improving health care services and delivery to solve systemic issues that influence the client’s and populations’ health, with particular consideration for disadvantaged, vulnerable, or underserved communities.

Jan 2023 – CNA-ACN Presidents Approval