Rich Cases: The Ethics of Thick Description

When cases are described thinly to protect patient confidentiality, they teach us only what the authors put into them.

Abstract

When cases are described thinly to protect patient confidentiality,\nthey teach us only what we put into them. Thick description, like myth,\nallows a fuller moral response. We need thick description to allow cases to\nremain open to different interpretations over time, and also to enable cases\nto ground an ethics of care.