Heidi Mertes
Biographic Data
| ID | 4620430 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Heidi Mertes |
| GIVEN NAMES | Heidi |
| FAMILY NAME | Mertes |
| SIGNATURE | MERTES H |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ghent University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3029-2158 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Public engagement and bioethics as natural allies
This article offers an original theoretical basis for the claim that public engagement and bioethics are natural allies. It draws on Walker’s expressive-collaborative model, which conceptualises morality as a social reality in which differently situated individuals continuously negotiate moral understandings and shared responsibilities to sustain social equilibrium. By highlighting the collective, dialogic, and interpretative nature of moral reas…
Risk management and the further use of gametes from a donor with a known pathogenic variant
Some donor-conceived persons are born with an autosomal recessive genetic condition. In response, some fertility clinics categorically restrict the further use of the gametes from the donor who transmitted the pathogenic variant, although the chance of recurrence is usually very low. The level of specific risk that a recipient or physician is willing to accept depends on various factors, including severity, lived experiences and personal preferen…
The information, control, and value models of mobile health‐driven empowerment
Mobile health tools are often said to empower users by providing them with the information they need to exercise control over their health. We aim to bring clarity to this claim, and in doing so explore the relationship between empowerment and autonomy. We have identified three distinct models embedded in the empowerment rhetoric: empowerment as information, empowerment as control, and empowerment as values. Each distinct model of empowerment giv…
On misempowerment & mobile health
Deconstructing self‐fulfilling outcome measures in infertility treatment
The typical outcome measure in infertility treatment is the (cumulative) healthy live birth rate per patient or per cycle. This means that those who end the treatment trajectory with a healthy baby in their arms are considered to be successful and those who do not are considered to have failed. In this article, we argue that by adopting the healthy live birth standard as the outcome measure that defines a successful fertility treatment, it become…
Age‐related hearing loss and “hearables”
Rapid advances in digital hearing technologies, also known as hearables, are expected to disrupt the direct‐to‐consumer health market. For older adults with higher incidence of hearing loss, such disruption could reduce hearing problems, increase accessibility to hearing aids, and mitigate related stigmas. This paper delves into the intersection of disruptive innovation and hearables within the realm of biomedical ethics. Through a comprehensive …
Do genomic passports leave us more vulnerable or less vulnerable? Perspectives from an online citizen engagement
Since genomics is becoming commonplace in healthcare for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, the prospect of generating a genomic passport for all citizens is gaining traction. While this would have many advantages, it raises ethical issues requiring societal debate alongside academic reflection. Hence, Sciensano—the Belgian scientific Institute of Public Health—organised an online citizen engagement on genomic information usage, including …
Watson, autonomy and value flexibility
Many ethical concerns have been voiced about Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSSs). Special attention has been paid to the effect of CDSSs on autonomy, responsibility, fairness and transparency. This journal has featured a discussion between Rosalind McDougall and Ezio Di Nucci that focused on the impact of IBM’s Watson for Oncology (Watson) on autonomy. The present article elaborates on this discussion in three ways. First, using Jonathan Pu…
The curious case of “trust” in the light of changing doctor–patient relationships
The centrality of trust in traditional doctor–patient relationships has been criticized as inordinately paternalistic, yet in today's discussions about medical ethics—mostly in response to disruptive innovation in healthcare—trust reappears as an asset to enable empowerment. To turn away from paternalistic trust‐based doctor–patient relationships and to arrive at an empowerment‐based medical model, increasing reference is made to the importance o…
An ethical exploration of pregnancy related mHealth
Enthusiasm, concern and ambivalence in the Belgian public’s attitude towards in-vitro gametogenesis
The ethics of ectogenesis‐aided foetal treatment
In this paper, we aim to stimulate ethical debate about the morally relevant connection between ectogenesis and the foetus as a potential beneficiary of treatment. Ectogenesis could facilitate foetal interventions by treating the foetus independently of the pregnant woman and provide easier access to the foetus if interventions are required. The moral relevance hereof derives from the observation that, together with other developments in genetic …
The ethics of ectogenesis‐aided foetal treatment
In this paper, we aim to stimulate ethical debate about the morally relevant connection between ectogenesis and the foetus as a potential beneficiary of treatment. Ectogenesis could facilitate foetal interventions by treating the foetus independently of the pregnant woman and provide easier access to the foetus if interventions are required. The moral relevance hereof derives from the observation that, together with other developments in genetic …
An ethical exploration of pregnancy related mHealth
Enthusiasm, concern and ambivalence in the Belgian public’s attitude towards in-vitro gametogenesis
Watson, autonomy and value flexibility
Many ethical concerns have been voiced about Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSSs). Special attention has been paid to the effect of CDSSs on autonomy, responsibility, fairness and transparency. This journal has featured a discussion between Rosalind McDougall and Ezio Di Nucci that focused on the impact of IBM’s Watson for Oncology (Watson) on autonomy. The present article elaborates on this discussion in three ways. First, using Jonathan Pu…
The curious case of “trust” in the light of changing doctor–patient relationships
The centrality of trust in traditional doctor–patient relationships has been criticized as inordinately paternalistic, yet in today's discussions about medical ethics—mostly in response to disruptive innovation in healthcare—trust reappears as an asset to enable empowerment. To turn away from paternalistic trust‐based doctor–patient relationships and to arrive at an empowerment‐based medical model, increasing reference is made to the importance o…
Do genomic passports leave us more vulnerable or less vulnerable? Perspectives from an online citizen engagement
Since genomics is becoming commonplace in healthcare for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, the prospect of generating a genomic passport for all citizens is gaining traction. While this would have many advantages, it raises ethical issues requiring societal debate alongside academic reflection. Hence, Sciensano—the Belgian scientific Institute of Public Health—organised an online citizen engagement on genomic information usage, including …
Deconstructing self‐fulfilling outcome measures in infertility treatment
The typical outcome measure in infertility treatment is the (cumulative) healthy live birth rate per patient or per cycle. This means that those who end the treatment trajectory with a healthy baby in their arms are considered to be successful and those who do not are considered to have failed. In this article, we argue that by adopting the healthy live birth standard as the outcome measure that defines a successful fertility treatment, it become…
Age‐related hearing loss and “hearables”
Rapid advances in digital hearing technologies, also known as hearables, are expected to disrupt the direct‐to‐consumer health market. For older adults with higher incidence of hearing loss, such disruption could reduce hearing problems, increase accessibility to hearing aids, and mitigate related stigmas. This paper delves into the intersection of disruptive innovation and hearables within the realm of biomedical ethics. Through a comprehensive …
The information, control, and value models of mobile health‐driven empowerment
Mobile health tools are often said to empower users by providing them with the information they need to exercise control over their health. We aim to bring clarity to this claim, and in doing so explore the relationship between empowerment and autonomy. We have identified three distinct models embedded in the empowerment rhetoric: empowerment as information, empowerment as control, and empowerment as values. Each distinct model of empowerment giv…
On misempowerment & mobile health
Public engagement and bioethics as natural allies
This article offers an original theoretical basis for the claim that public engagement and bioethics are natural allies. It draws on Walker’s expressive-collaborative model, which conceptualises morality as a social reality in which differently situated individuals continuously negotiate moral understandings and shared responsibilities to sustain social equilibrium. By highlighting the collective, dialogic, and interpretative nature of moral reas…
Risk management and the further use of gametes from a donor with a known pathogenic variant
Some donor-conceived persons are born with an autosomal recessive genetic condition. In response, some fertility clinics categorically restrict the further use of the gametes from the donor who transmitted the pathogenic variant, although the chance of recurrence is usually very low. The level of specific risk that a recipient or physician is willing to accept depends on various factors, including severity, lived experiences and personal preferen…
Psychology (8 works) · Political science (7 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Medicine (5 works) · Computer security (4 works) · Reproductive Health and Technologies (4 works) · Sociology (4 works) · Assisted Reproductive Technology and Twin Pregnancy (3 works) · Autonomy (3 works)