What does the term "autonomy" refer to in a healthcare context?

In a healthcare context, "autonomy" primarily refers to the right to self-determination. This concept involves respecting and honoring an individual's ability to make informed choices about their own medical care and treatment. Autonomy emphasizes the importance of patients being actively involved in decisions that affect their health, allowing them to express their values, preferences, and goals.

When healthcare providers uphold a patient's autonomy, they acknowledge the patient's right to decide what interventions they would like to pursue or avoid based on their personal beliefs and circumstances. This principle is fundamental to ethical medical practice and underpins many aspects of patient-centered care.

While the other options relate to important rights within healthcare, they do not capture the essence of autonomy as self-determination does. For instance, confidentiality is about the protection of private health information, informed consent relates to ensuring patients fully understand the implications of a treatment before agreeing to it, and receiving treatment pertains to access rights. Each of these is significant, but self-determination uniquely defines the ability of patients to make choices about their own healthcare.