Dementia: ethical issues - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Dementia: ethical issues - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Dementia: ethical issues - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
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02<br />
NUFFIELD COUNCIL<br />
ON BIOETHICS<br />
An <str<strong>on</strong>g>ethical</str<strong>on</strong>g> framework<br />
The report sets out a 6–part ‘<str<strong>on</strong>g>ethical</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
framework’ to help those who face<br />
dilemmas in c<strong>on</strong>necti<strong>on</strong> with the day-today<br />
care of some<strong>on</strong>e with dementia. This<br />
framework also provides the basis for<br />
the recommendati<strong>on</strong>s to policy-makers<br />
we make throughout the report. As with<br />
any framework, it will need to be applied<br />
flexibly, and with compassi<strong>on</strong>. There will<br />
rarely be <strong>on</strong>e ‘right’ answer to any particular<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>ethical</str<strong>on</strong>g> difficulty [para 2.4 and box 2.1].<br />
Comp<strong>on</strong>ent 1: A ‘case-based’ approach to <str<strong>on</strong>g>ethical</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
decisi<strong>on</strong>s<br />
Ethical decisi<strong>on</strong>s can be approached in a three stage process:<br />
• identify the facts that are relevant to the specific case;<br />
• interpret and apply appropriate <str<strong>on</strong>g>ethical</str<strong>on</strong>g> values to those facts; and<br />
• compare the situati<strong>on</strong> with other similar situati<strong>on</strong>s to find<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>ethical</str<strong>on</strong>g>ly relevant similarities or differences.<br />
Comp<strong>on</strong>ent 2: A belief about the nature of<br />
dementia<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Dementia</str<strong>on</strong>g> arises as a result of a brain disorder, and is harmful to<br />
the individual.<br />
Comp<strong>on</strong>ent 3: A belief about quality of life with<br />
dementia<br />
With good care and support, people with dementia can expect to<br />
have a good quality of life throughout the course of their illness.