New Study Challenges Traditional Dementia Decision-Making
A new study challenges the conventional approach to decision-making for dementia patients. It contends that preferences expressed at the outset of the condition should not hold decisive moral weight, as patients in moderate to late stages often develop different preferences.
The author of the study, whose name is not explicitly mentioned, argues that dementia is a transformative cognitive experience. This means that patients' preferences can and do change as the condition progresses.
Currently, the received view in philosophical literature gives significant moral weight to preferences expressed at the outset of dementia. However, the author argues that this view is inadequate and out of touch with real clinical practice. In clinical settings, preferences expressed by patients after the onset of the condition are often given more consideration.
The study also emphasizes that proxies, or substitute decision-makers, play a crucial role in medical decision-making for dementia patients. It suggests that their assessments of patients' preferences should be given more weight than advance directives, which are based on preferences expressed before the onset of dementia.
The study concludes that the moral weight given to preferences expressed at the outset of dementia should be reduced. Instead, preferences expressed by patients in middle to late stages, as well as the assessments of proxies, should be given more consideration in medical decision-making. This shift aligns more closely with real clinical practice and respects the evolving preferences of dementia patients.
