Chris Gastmans
Kapucijnenvoer 7 blok g - box 7001
3000 Leuven
Belgium
room: 00.13
tel: +32 16 37 33 03
contact
Biography
Chris Gastmans (°1966) is Full Professor of Medical Ethics and Head of the Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Law at the Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven. He was member of the Bureau as Secretary-general (2002-2010), Treasurer (2010-2013) and President (2013-2015) of the European Association of Centres of Medical Ethics (EACME) to which 70 centres for medical ethics in Europe are affiliated.
Chris Gastmans teaches Medical Ethics. He coordinates the Intensive Course Nursing Ethics and the Summer Course Ethics in Dementia Care. He serves as an ethicist in the ethics board of European funded projects, as well as in the ethics committees of Zorgnet-Icuro and of the University Hospitals of Leuven. He is also a member of the Belgian Bioethics Committee. Gastmans is regularly invited to be member of review panels to assess research programs of Dutch universities and to assess research proposals within the EU research program Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.
Chris Gastmans is Founding Board Member of the international journal “Nursing Ethics” (SAGE, London). He co-edited “Justice, Luck and Responsibility in Health Care” (Springer, 2013) and “Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: Lessons From Belgium” (Cambridge University Press, 2017). His most recent monograph is “Kwetsbare Waardigheid: Ethiek aan het Begin en Einde van het Leven” (Peckmans Uitgevers, 2021). He published more than 170 peer reviewed articles and book chapters on end-of-life care ethics, elderly care ethics, empirical ethics, ethics of health technology innovations, ethics of care, and nursing ethics.
Chris Gastmans is co-ordinating the research lines ‘Clinical ethics and care for older adults and end-of-life care’, ‘Ethics of health technology innovations’, and ‘Fundamental research into care ethics’. The research is done by an interdisciplinary staff of theologians, philosophers, physicians, and nursing scientists. The interdisciplinary composition of the research group allows for carrying out applied ethical research, as well as foundational ethical research. The specific surplus value of Gastmans’ research lines lies in the connection between ethical theory (philosophical, theological, and anthropological) and clinical practice (care practices and care policy) via empirical research.
Research
The first research line focuses on clinical ethics issues in care for older adults and end-of-life care. Gastmans’ research program combines the use of a high level empirical methodological approach (mainly qualitative methodology - QUAGOL) with a clear focus on the ethical dimensions of care practices for older adults and for persons at the end of their life. Examples of projects are:
- Nurses' Involvement in Euthanasia (2003-2008);
- Written Ethics Policies on Euthanasia in Healthcare Institutions (2005-2009);
- Nurses' Involvement in Withholding/Withdrawing Artificial Food and Fluid Administration (2007-2010);
- Nurses’ Ethical Behaviour and Physical Restraints in Hospitals (2008-2012);
- Care for Older People with regard to Intimacy and Sexuality (2010-2016);
- Artificial Nutrition and Hydration in PVS Patients: NormativeEthical Foundations (2012-1016);
- Palliative Care in Psychiatry (2013-2015);
- Communication About the End of Life in Nursing Homes: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (2014-2018);
- Palliative Sedation for Existential Suffering (2017-2020);
- Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in psychiatry (2018-2024);
- Resuscitation in Extremely Premature Infants (2018-2022);
- Withholding/Withdrawing Life Sustaining Treatments in Pediatrics (2021-2025);
The second research line focuses on ethical issues related to the design, development, implementation, and use of health technology innovations. Examples of projects are:
- Socially Assistive Robots in Care for Older Adults (2016-2019);
- Electronic Tracking Devices in Dementia Care (2020-2024)
- Ethical Screening of Health Technology Innovations (2019-2021);
The third research line is related to more foundational approaches in care ethics. More specifically, Gastmans developed the model of ‘dignity enhancing care’ that is applied to care for older adults and end-of life care. The ‘dignity enhancing care’ model is inspired by a creative dialogue between care ethics and personalist ethics. Examples of projects are:
- Fundamental Research into the Underlying Views Regarding Care and the Human Person (2002-2006);
- Ethical Codes in Nursing: European Perspectives on Content and Functioning (2002-2005);
- Risk, Luck, and Responsibility in Health Care (2008-2014);
- Lived Experiences of Corporality and Embodiment in the Care for Islamic Women (2014-2018);
(Co-) supervisor of PhD projects:
- Vanlaere Linus, Zorg. Wijsgerig- en theologisch-ethisch grondslagenonderzoek met toepassing op zelfdoding bij ouderen (Defended on 11 January 2006
- Lemiengre, Joke, Written Ethics Policies on Euthanasia in Flemish Hospitals and Nursing Homes. An Empirical-ethical Study on Development, Content, and Impact (Defended on 25 February 2010)
- Goethals, Sabine, Nurses’ Ethical Reasoning and Behaviour in Cases of Physical Restraint in Acute Elderly Care in Flanders. A Qualitative Empirical Study. Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven (Defended on 9 December 2013)
- Mahieu, Lieslot, Care for Older People With Regard to Intimacy and Sexuality. A Clinical-Ethical Study With Special attention to Institutionalized People With Dementia (Defended on 19 May 2014)
- Mahar, Christopher, Providing or Withdrawing artificial Nutrition and Hydration to Patients Diagnosed as Being in the Persistent Vegetative State. A Fundamental Investigation into the Underlying Theological Presuppositions in the Current Ethical Debate (Defended on 6 December 2016)
- Vandemeulebroucke, Tijs, The Use of Socially Assistive Robots in the Care for Older Adults. A Socio-Historical ethical Analysis (Defended on 27 November 2019
- Gonissen, Joni, Communication About End of Life in Nursing Homes. A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (Defended on 13 December 2019)
- Nicolini, Marie, Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide for Psychiatric Disorders. Clinical and Ethical Perspectives (Defended on 27 May 2021)
- Cavolo, Alice, Decision-making at Start of Treatment for Extremely Premature Infants. A Clinical-ethical Study (Defended on 16 May 2022)
- Dos Santos Rodrigues, Paulo, Palliative Sedation for Existential Suffering. A Clinical-ethical Study (Defense expected December 2022)
- Howes, Jared, Electronic Tracking Devices in Dementia Care. An Ethical Analysis (Defense expected September 2024)
- Zhong, Yajing, Ethical Issues in Pediatric Palliative Care (Defense expected February 2025).
Publications
Teaching
- E09O2A Foundations of Bioethics and Principles of Clinical Ethics
- E09O1A Ethical Issues in End-of-Life Care
- U03C5B Kwaliteitsvol praktijk voeren (Kortrijk)
- E06Y8B Kwaliteitsvol praktijk voeren
- U03C6A Medische ethiek (Kortrijk)
- E06Y9A Medische ethiek
- A07G5A Medical Ethics
- E09D5A Masterproef
- W0EC8A Ethics of Care
- E04D9A Gezondheidsethiek, -recht en levensbeschouwing
- E00C9A Ethiek en deontologie
More information
For more information about Chris Gastmans, take a look at KU Leuven Who’s Who