Evaluating life-sustaining treatments for demented persons.
Decisions to employ, withhold, or withdraw life-sustaining treatments from demented individuals should be centered on the patients' personal needs rather than on physiological abnormalities. To accomplish this, physicians and families need a trusting communication and flexible, comprehensive, and positive approaches to treatment goals and technologies. This article critiques and proposes approaches to such treatment planning.
Miles
S H
SH
Section of General Internal Medicine, Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Illinois.
Moss
R J
RJ
D000368:Aged; D003704:Dementia / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000592:standards*; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000592:standards