Dementia and the Ethics of Choosing When to Die

A new Hastings Center project addresses foundational questions about end-of-life choices for people with dementia.As the American population ages and dementia is on the rise, The Hastings Center is embarking on pathbreaking research to explore foundational questions associated with the dementia trajectory and the concerns of persons facing this terminal condition. This new research is made possible by a major grant to The Hastings Center from The Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust as part of its visionary support for the Center’s research and public engagement on ethical challenges facing aging societies. Principal investigators are Nancy Berlinger, a research scholar at The Hastings Center, and Mildred Z. Solomon, the president.Dementia is an age-associated condition that typically spans four-to-eight years from diagnosis to death, although it may last much longer. Some brain changes associated with dementia can be identified before the onset of symptoms via biomarkers detected through neuroimaging or other tests. During the dementia trajectory, a person experiences progressive impairment of cognitive abilities – including memory, problem-solving, and language – as well as changes in behavior and physiological functions. As cognition deteriorates, a person with dementia will need daily assistance and eventually total care, often in an institutional setting, for several years before physical deterioration progresses to death from pneumonia or anothe...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Health Care syndicated Source Type: blogs