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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Autonomy versus compulsion in the care of dependent older people | | Author(s) | Arnold J Rosin, Moshe Sonnenblick |
| Journal title | Health Care in Later Life, vol 3, no 3, 1998 |
| Pages | pp 159-170 |
| Keywords | Independence ; At risk ; Mobility ; Restriction ; Rights [elderly] ; Health services ; Social ethics. |
| Annotation | Issues relating to autonomy and compulsion in the care of older people are discussed in this article. The preservation of individual autonomy in sick or dependent people is a fundamental principle of modern health-care ethics, however, respect for autonomy in the care of older people is sometimes overridden in attempting to find solutions to difficult sociomedical situations. Compulsion, which is the negation of autonomy, may occur when decisions are made for older people without their full assent. However, there are instances where the lack of judgement on the part of older people causes them to act to their own detriment. These situations often demand overruling a person's decision for his or her own good, or tactfully persuading him or her. Similarly, restraining a patient in hospital is compulsion in a more severe form. The authors conclude that restraint is justified for the patient's sake if he or she interferes manually with the treatment, but to restrain `in case' a patient endangers himself or herself is not justified as a general rule. A dilemma is also posed by the question of whose autonomy takes precedence: the patient's or the family's. (AKM). |
| Accession Number | CPA-980908401 A |
| Classmark | C3: CA3: C4: 5RC: IKR: L: TQ |
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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