Abstract

This article starts from an academic researcher’s written ethics case drawn from a participatory action research project in a residential care home for older people in Germany. The case contains an implicit dilemma for the academic researcher about whether to intervene to protect a resident giving a talk from perceived discomfort and humiliation in front of her peers. The case was discussed and acted out at several meetings of the ethics working group of the International Collaboration for Participatory Health Research. This article comprises: two commentaries on the case from micro and macro perspectives; the case author’s further reflections and reframing of the situation as less about protection and more about resident-determined empowerment following the discovery and transcription of an audio-recording; and discussion of the value of multiple perspectives and iterative dialogue in enabling in-depth and new understandings of the ethical nuances of everyday interactions. This article demonstrates the value of the ‘ethics co-laboratory’ process adopted in the ethics working group as a method of deepening researchers’ ethical sensitivity and extending their ethical competence.