Centre for Policy on Ageing



To tell or not to tell — on disclosing the diagnosis of dementia
Author(s)	Gill Pinner, Walter Pierre Bouman
Journal title	International Psychogeriatrics, vol 14, no 2, June 2002
Pages	pp 127-138
Keywords	Dementia ; Communication ; Diagnosis ; Attitude ; Literature reviews.
Annotation	Research suggests that there has been a cultural change in the disclosure of diagnosis with most evidence held in cancer literature. This article reviews how disclosure of diagnosis relates to the field of dementia. The attitudes and practices of practitioners are discussed, along with the views of carers, peer groups and patients. Practitioners show great variation in practice, with only around 50% of clinicians regularly telling patients with dementia their diagnosis. The majority of carers also appear to prefer the diagnosis to be withheld from the patient with dementia. However, most carers and practitioners would wish to know themselves if they had the illness. Although in contrast, studies on the views of older peer groups show that most of them would wish to be informed, views of patients with dementia regarding the area of disclosure are still lacking. The advantages and disadvantages of disclosure, along with the ethical issues, are examined. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-021118205 A
Classmark	EA: U: LK7: DP: 64A
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.