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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Would you like to know what is wrong with you?
— On telling the truth to patients with dementia | | Author(s) | Marek Marzanski |
| Journal title | Journal of Medical Ethics, vol 26, no 2, April 2000 |
| Pages | pp 108-113 |
| Keywords | Dementia ; Preventative medicine ; Social ethics ; Communication ; Doctors ; Patients ; Worcester. |
| Annotation | Ethical guidelines regarding telling the truth appear to be equivocal. Declarations of cognitively intact subjects, attitudes of family members and current psychiatric practice all vary, but no previous research has been published concerning what patients with dementia would really like to know about their diagnosis and prognosis. This article reports on a study of 30 patients with dementia in the Old Age Psychiatry Service in Worcester. The quality of information was found to be poor, with many patients having little opportunity to discuss their illness with anybody. Despite this, almost half of the participants had adequate insight, and most declared that they would like to know more about their predicament. Conversely, the rights of those who do not want to know should also be respected. Thus, diagnosis of dementia should not be routinely disclosed, but as with other disorders, health care professionals should seek to understand their patients' preferences and act appropriately according to their choice. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-000504202 A |
| Classmark | EA: LK2: TQ: U: QT2: LF: 8WOA |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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