Ethical Issues in Dementia Care ─ Making Difficult Decisions

Practitioners, educators and consultants Hughes and Baldwin take caregivers step by step through the deep thicket of ethical questions that surrounds people with dementia, focusing on relations, treatment, safety and quality of life. They urge caregivers to consider different perspectives when making decisions and to work with communicating, building empathy and maintaining relationships along with fulfilling their duty. They acknowledge that the patient's safety is paramount, but also speak to his or her innate need for as much independence as possible. They also address issues families have kept under wraps only to be revealed when that same family attempts to care for a family member with dementia, and the steps professionals must take to make informed decisions that keep the client in mind. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Julian C. Hughes is a consultant in Old Age Psychiatry at North Tyneside General Hospital and an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Institute for Ageing and Health at the University of Newcastle, UK. He is currently the Chair of the Philosophy Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He also held a short-term Fellowship in 2003 from the Wellcome Trust to consider quality of life in dementia.Clive Baldwin is Senior Lecturer at Bradford Dementia Group, University of Bradford, UK. He is a member of the Christian Council on Aging Dementia Group and maintains his interest in the voluntary sector through fundraising and consultancy work. Both authors were involved in research at Ethox (University of Oxford) into ethical issues for family carers of people with dementia.