Improving treatment for patients who are elderly and have dementia

Journal of Clinical Ethics

Volumn 11, Issue 4, 2000, Pages 291-303

  Howe, Edmund G ^a  

^a UNIFORMED SERVICES UNIVERSITY OF THE HEALTH SCIENCES   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AGED; CAR DRIVING; DEMENTIA; FEMALE; HEALTH PERSONNEL ATTITUDE; HOME FOR THE AGED; HUMAN; MALE; MEDICAL ETHICS; MENTAL HEALTH THERAPIES; NEEDS ASSESSMENT; NOTE; NURSING HOME; PATIENT ADVOCACY; PHYSICIAN ATTITUDE; PROFESSIONAL PATIENT RELATIONSHIP; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; QUALITY OF LIFE; SAFETY; SEXUAL BEHAVIOR; SEXUALITY; SOCIAL JUSTICE; STANDARD;

MENTAL HEALTH THERAPIES; PROFESSIONAL PATIENT RELATIONSHIP;

AGED; AGED, 80 AND OVER; ATTITUDE OF HEALTH PERSONNEL; AUTOMOBILE DRIVING; DEMENTIA; ETHICS, MEDICAL; FEMALE; HOMES FOR THE AGED; HUMANS; MALE; NEEDS ASSESSMENT; NURSING HOMES; PATIENT ADVOCACY; PHYSICIAN'S ROLE; QUALITY OF LIFE; SAFETY; SEXUAL BEHAVIOR; SEXUAL PARTNERS; SOCIAL JUSTICE;

EID: 0034574299     PISSN: 10467890     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (10)

1. Berger is not alone. "In too many instances, there seems little attention paid to the very human needs of... partners, or that no 'abuse' in fact takes place." J.R. McCartney et al., "Sexuality and the Institutionalized Elderly," Journal of the American Geriatric Society 35 (1987): 331-3, p. 333. "We conclude that the majority of male nursing home residents are... sexually interested.... Rather than further restricting the quality of life after institutionalization, health professionals should seek ways to enhance this frequently ignored component of life satisfaction." T. Mulligan and R.F. Palguta, "Sexual Interest, Activity, and Satisfaction Among Male Nursing Home Residents," Archives of Sexual Behavior 20, no. 2 (1991): 199-204, p. 204.
2. Berger is not alone. "In too many instances, there seems little attention paid to the very human needs of... partners, or that no 'abuse' in fact takes place." J.R. McCartney et al., "Sexuality and the Institutionalized Elderly," Journal of the American Geriatric Society 35 (1987): 331-3, p. 333. "We conclude that the majority of male nursing home residents are... sexually interested.... Rather than further restricting the quality of life after institutionalization, health professionals should seek ways to enhance this frequently ignored component of life satisfaction." T. Mulligan and R.F. Palguta, "Sexual Interest, Activity, and Satisfaction Among Male Nursing Home Residents," Archives of Sexual Behavior 20, no. 2 (1991): 199-204, p. 204.
3. Dena S. Davis states: "With dementia, all this is gone." She cites Stephen G. Post's saying, "Alzheimer is a 'future that peels away my soul'." S.G. Post, "Physician-Assisted Suicide in Alzheimer Disease," Journal of the American Geriatric Society 45 (1997): 647-51); D.S. Davis, "Rational Suicide and Predictive Genetic Testing," The Journal of Clinical Ethics 10, no. 4 (Winter 1999): 316-23, p. 318. Davis argues that "groups... shaping policy around genetic testing should take preemptive suicide into account as one motivation for developing and offering tests," (p. 321).
4. Dena S. Davis states: "With dementia, all this is gone." She cites Stephen G. Post's saying, "Alzheimer is a 'future that peels away my soul'." S.G. Post, "Physician-Assisted Suicide in Alzheimer Disease," Journal of the American Geriatric Society 45 (1997): 647-51); D.S. Davis, "Rational Suicide and Predictive Genetic Testing," The Journal of Clinical Ethics 10, no. 4 (Winter 1999): 316-23, p. 318. Davis argues that "groups... shaping policy around genetic testing should take preemptive suicide into account as one motivation for developing and offering tests," (p. 321).
5. J.W. Swanson et al., "Psychiatric Advance Directives: An Alternative to Coercive Treatment," Psychiatry 63, no. 2 (Summer 2000): 160-72. See also E.G. Howe, "Commentary," ibid., pp. 173-7.
6. J.W. Swanson et al., "Psychiatric Advance Directives: An Alternative to Coercive Treatment," Psychiatry 63, no. 2 (Summer 2000): 160-72. See also E.G. Howe, "Commentary," ibid., pp. 173-7.
7. J.H. Pennix et al., "Emotionally Vital, Socially Engaged Disabled Seniors Live Longer with Less 111 Health," Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (Westport, Conn.: Reuters Medical News, in press).
8. According to one estimate, 30 percent of men with mild to moderate dementia 75 years of age or older are driving. D.J. Foley, "Driving Cessation in Older Men with Incident Dementia," Journal of the American Geriatric Society 48 (2000): 928-30, p. 30.
9. R.A. Marottoli et al., "Driving Cessation and Increased Depressive Symptoms: Prospective Evidence from New Haven EPESE," A merican Journal of Geriatric Society 45 (1993): 277-81. "Depression and depressive symptoms have been linked to functional disability and mortality," (p. 202). "Arbitrary decisions to cease driving may thus have substantial emotional and functional, as well as practical effects on the older individual," (p. 206).
10. R.M. Dubinsky et al., "Driving in Alzheimer's Disease," Journal of the American Geriatric Society 40 (1992): 1112-6.