title: Advance directives in dementia care: from instructions to instruments.
abstract: Advance directives are often regarded as instructions to the doctor about future care. This view is problematic, in that it obliterates that decisions about treatment and care always take place in a concrete situation, and require interpretation and communication. From a hermeneutic perspective, advance directives can be regarded as instruments which do not replace interpretation and communication, but sustain joint decision-making about treatment and care, including the patient and the family in a process of meaning-making.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Ethics and Philosophy, University of Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 AT, Maastricht, The Netherlands. g.widdershoven@zw.unimaas.nl
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Widdershoven
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Berghmans
mesh_terms: D016223:Advance Directives; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003142:Communication; D003657:Decision Making; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016743:Mental Competency; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations