Full Description
Several million Americans are afflicted with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementing disorder. For families, professional caregivers, policy makers, and the patients themselves, the challenges are immense and the economic costs are staggering. In Dementia and Aging Robert H. Binstock, Stephen G. Post, and Peter J. Whitehouse bring together experts in gerontology, geriatrics, psychiatry, neurology, nursing, ethics, philosophy, public policy, and law to examine the ethical, moral, and policy controversies surrounding dementia. The authors first present background information on dementia and related ethical and policy issues. The remainder of the book is divided into three parts. Part One conveys the difficulties experienced by dementia patients and their caregivers. Part Two deals with ethical and moral issues involved in decisions regarding treatment and care, including the highly controversial subject of euthanasia. Part Three lays out societal choices regarding the allocation of resources for treatment, care, and research on dementia.
Contents
Foreword
Preface
List of Contributors
Chapter 1. The Challenges of Dementia
Part I: Biomedical, Experiential, and Caregiving Perspectives
Chapter 2. Dementia: The Medical Perspective
Chapter 3. The Experience of Being Demented
Chapter 4. Seeing and Knowing Dementia
Chapter 5. Human Dignity, Dementia, and the Moral Basis of Caregiving
Part II: Treatment Decisions, Advance Directives, and Euthanasia
Chapter 6. Autonomy Revisited: The Limits of Anticipatory Choices
Chapter 7. A Critical View of Ethical Dilemmas in Dementia
Chapter 8. Mercy Killing of Elderly People with Dementia: A Counterproposal
Chapter 9. Euthanasia in Alzheimer's Disease?
Part III: Caring For People With Dementia: Justice and Public Policy
Chapter 10. Dementia and Appropriate Care: Allocating Scarce Resources
Chapter 11. The Politics of Developing Appropriate Care for Dementia
Chapter 12. Alzheimer's Disease: Current Policy Initiatives
Index
