[Experiences of guardians of psychogeriatric patients regarding decision not to treat].
OBJECTIVE
To obtain an impression of how representatives of psychogeriatric patients experience their role in non-treatment decisions.


METHODS
Retrospective.


METHODS
The names of the 50 most recently deceased patients in psychogeriatric departments of a nursing home and of their representatives were obtained from the register of the nursing home. Of the representatives 28 (67%) agreed to an interview.


RESULTS
24 of the 28 respondents had participated in some form of medical decision-making. There were 34 decisions of which 33 non-treatment decisions. In most cases the decision was to give symptomatic treatment only. In 27 of 34 cases the representative did not regard it as a burden to be involved in the decision-making, on the contrary they considered it self-evident and were pleased to be involved.


CONCLUSIONS
In general, representatives of psychogeriatric nursing home patients did not regard it as a burden to be involved in end-of-life decision-making.
Jacobs
V E
VE
Centrum voor Bio-ethiek en Gezondheidsrecht, Universiteit Utrecht.
van Zuthem
H J
HJ
van Delden
J J
JJ
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003657:Decision Making; D003704:Dementia; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007872:Legal Guardians / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012494:Sampling Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D020458:Third-Party Consent; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology*