Rationale and Purpose
While tobacco smoking is lawfully accepted, healthcare practitioners may wrestle with whether an individual that smokes is an appropriate recipient of essential healthcare resources especially where interventions carried out on smoking patients have been observed as less effective in comparison to non-smoking patients. Negative health effects of smoking have resulted in policy changes which coupled with the World Health Organisations estimation that smoking incurs 500 billion US dollars of economic cost annually, raises debate on whether healthcare systems can continue to fund.
Previous empirical research has been conducted on medical priority setting in cases where the disease is induced by smoking habits. There have also been numerous studies conducted on the economic and financial costs incurred every year as a result of the smoking habit. These studies have evidenced that smoking results in severe illnesses which are not easily treated. These illnesses also result in millions in costs both to the patients and the healthcare system. Despite the vast education of the global population concerning the adverse effects of this habit, patients continue to indulge. However, there has been scarce assessment and exploration on the ethics of continually providing medical resources and finances for the treatment of smoking-induced illnesses. There lies a question on whether the health care system should continue to be adversely influenced by the lifestyle choices of smokers and an evaluation on whether the healthcare system should continue to fund the care, treatment, and medical needs associated with smoking.
Research Question
Should the health care system continue to be suffocated by the lifestyle choices of smokers?
Research Method
This research process will utilise a systematic literature review as the method for collecting data. The SLR will include two major healthcare research databases and one general research database. The two major healthcare research databases will be PubMed and the Cochrane Library of systematic reviews in health care and health policy. There will also be hand-searching of relevant articles, health reports, and white papers. Selection criteria will be utilized to identify the appropriate research articles, and thematic analysis will be used to analyse the data obtained.
Practicalities
As this research is wholly based on literature review data and sources should be readily available.
Timeline
Key literature identification will take place Jan 2022 – March 2022
Review and analysis will commence March – July 2022
Reflection, writing and amendment July 2022 onwards
Bibliography
Anh, P. T. H., Ross, H., Anh, N. Q., Linh, B. N., & Minh, N. T. (2016). Direct and indirect costs of smoking in Vietnam. Tobacco control, 25(1), 96-100.
Brown, R. C. H., Maslen, H., & Savulescu, J. (2019). Responsibility, prudence, and health promotion. Journal of Public Health, 41(3), 561-565.
Goodchild, M., Nargis, N., & d’Espaignet, E. T. (2018). Global economic cost of smoking-attributable diseases. Tobacco control, 27(1), 58-64.
Juranić, B., Rakošec, Ž., Jakab, J., Mikšić, Š., Vuletić, S., Ivandić, M., & Blažević, I. (2017). Prevalence, habits and personal attitudes towards smoking among health care professionals. Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, 12(1), 1-8.
Meijer, E., & Chavannes, N. H. (2021). Lacking willpower? A latent class analysis of healthcare providers’ perceptions of smokers’ responsibility for smoking. Patient Education and Counseling, 104(3), 620-626.
Senderovich, H. (2015). The Ethical Responsibility of Health Care Providers to Provide Treatment to Smokers. Annals of Long-Term Care.

Submitting your dissertation
Formatting your dissertation
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Footnotes1F and referencing style
All dissertations must comply with OSCOLA referencing. Use referencing guide from the University of Oxford.
Word count
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– Title page
– Acknowledgements
– Contents page
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