ACC Professional Ethics & Standards 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A resident refuses to participate in a scheduled group activity. What is the ethically appropriate response for the activity consultant?
- Document the refusal and respect the resident's right to self-determination (Correct answer)
- Persuade the resident repeatedly until they agree to join
- Notify the physician that the resident is being uncooperative
- Remove the activity from the resident's care plan without further assessment
Correct answer: Document the refusal and respect the resident's right to self-determination
Respecting a resident's right to refuse participation is a fundamental ethical obligation under self-determination principles.
Question 2: Which best describes the ethical principle of 'beneficence' as applied by an Activity Consultant?
- Avoiding harm to residents at all times
- Actively promoting resident well-being through meaningful programming (Correct answer)
- Treating all residents equally regardless of individual needs
- Maintaining confidentiality of resident information
Correct answer: Actively promoting resident well-being through meaningful programming
Beneficence means taking positive action to promote the well-being and quality of life of residents.
Question 3: An activity consultant learns that a colleague is falsifying attendance records for programming. What is the most ethical course of action?
- Ignore it to avoid workplace conflict
- Confront the colleague privately and then report to a supervisor if it continues (Correct answer)
- Report it immediately to regulatory authorities without speaking to anyone internally
- Alter records yourself to match the pattern to avoid suspicion
Correct answer: Confront the colleague privately and then report to a supervisor if it continues
Ethical standards require addressing misconduct, typically starting with direct communication before escalating to formal reporting channels.
Question 4: When developing a care plan activity section for a resident with dementia, which ethical principle is most directly applied when including the family in decision-making?
- Justice
- Nonmaleficence
- Substituted judgment / surrogate decision-making (Correct answer)
- Fidelity
Correct answer: Substituted judgment / surrogate decision-making
When a resident lacks capacity, substituted judgment involves involving family or legal surrogates to make decisions aligned with the resident's known wishes.
Question 5: An Activity Consultant discovers a resident has a history of gambling addiction. Programming that includes bingo for money prizes would violate which ethical concern?
- Justice — unfair to non-gamblers
- Nonmaleficence — potential to cause harm to a vulnerable resident (Correct answer)
- Autonomy — overriding the resident's choices
- Fidelity — breaking a promise made to the resident
Correct answer: Nonmaleficence — potential to cause harm to a vulnerable resident
Offering gambling-style activities to someone with a known addiction history risks causing harm, violating the nonmaleficence principle.
Question 6: Which action by an Activity Consultant best demonstrates adherence to professional boundaries?
- Giving a resident your personal cell phone number for emergencies
- Accepting a small gift from a resident's family after a special event (Correct answer)
- Lending money to a resident who requests financial help
- Attending a resident's private home event after discharge
Correct answer: Accepting a small gift from a resident's family after a special event
Accepting small, token gifts in certain contexts may be appropriate depending on facility policy, while lending money or sharing personal contact information crosses professional boundaries.
Question 7: The NAAP Code of Ethics requires activity professionals to maintain which of the following regarding resident information?
- Full transparency — sharing all resident data with family members upon request
- Strict confidentiality, sharing information only on a need-to-know basis (Correct answer)
- Public posting of activity participation for quality assurance
- Verbal communication only to prevent written records from being subpoenaed
Correct answer: Strict confidentiality, sharing information only on a need-to-know basis
Confidentiality is a core ethical obligation; resident information is shared only with those who need it for care purposes.
ACC Professional Ethics & Standards 2
A resident refuses to participate in a scheduled group activity.
What is the ethically appropriate response for the activity consultant?