Centre for Policy on Ageing



Should a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease be disclosed?
Author(s)	K Sullivan, F O'Conor
Journal title	Aging & Mental Health, vol 5, no 4, November 2001
Pages	pp 340-348
Source	http://www.tandfonline.com
Keywords	Dementia ; Diagnosis ; Attitude ; Students ; Clinical psychologists ; Teaching hospitals ; Australia.
Annotation	There is evidence that some health practitioners may be reluctant to disclose a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) to patients. However, this reluctance towards disclosure may not be in accordance with patient expectation. This study used the Reasons for Wanting to Know Questionnaire (RWK) to examine the attitudes of 100 Australian undergraduate psychology students regarding disclosure practices in relation to AD, before and after AD education. After AD education, 93% of participants indicated a desire to be informed of an AD diagnosis, and 95% were in favour of telling a close relative a diagnosis of AD. Results are discussed in terms of the relationship between age and attitudes towards AD diagnosis. The high rate of support for disclosure of AD diagnoses to patients among younger adults may reflect a change in the information preferences brought about by a shift away from a patriarchal medical model, toward a more autonomous model of health. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-011210208 A
Classmark	EA: LK7: DP: XN: QT9A: V6: 7YA
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.