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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| The attitudes of carers and old age psychiatrists towards the treatment of potentially fatal events in end-stage dementia | | Author(s) | R H Coetzee, S J Leask, R G Jones |
| Journal title | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 18, no 2, February 2003 |
| Pages | pp 169-173 |
| Keywords | Informal care ; Psychiatrists ; Attitude ; Dementia ; Terminal care ; Nottingham. |
| Annotation | Deciding how to treat patients with end-stage dementia developing potentially fatal events has long been contentious. Under proposed incapacity legislation in England, the role of carers is likely to increase. Old age psychiatrists often have to decide between active or palliative approaches to such patients. Following a literature review, a Likert scale attitudinal questionnaire was designed, which was initially distributed to a pilot group of medical students, and subsequently to members of the Alzheimer's Society branch in Nottingham and all psychiatrists in the Trent health region. 148 carers and 34 clinicians responded. Factor analysis and test-retest analysis of students' responses validated 6 questions, which grouped into two factors, relating to active treatment and patient-controlled ethics. Between group comparisons revealed significant differences between carers' and clinicians' attitudes in these areas. Clinicians favoured active treatment of potentially fatal events in end-stage dementia less than carers who more significantly valued patient-centred issues such as dying with dignity, the patient's best interests, and the patient's wishes. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-030305216 A |
| Classmark | P6: QT9: DP: EA: LV: 8NTF |
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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