[Ethics and dementia: a three years' experience of a French "Alzheimer's ethico-clinic workshop"].
There is a growing interest concerning ethical questions. This ethical need is the more important in the field of dementia. Indeed, the ethical concerns related to this field are highly specific, which leaves some of our questions without pertinent answers.


METHODS
After three years of experience, it is a good time to assess the Alzheimer ethico-clinic workshop created by a French memory centre (in Grenoble) and encouraged by the French national Alzheimer disease plan.


RESULTS
Since their implementation, we have recorded 24 monthly coordination meetings, 10 of which have been held through videoconferences with various participants. Most of the time during the workshops, clinical situations that are experienced in our daily activities are brought up by one of us and then exposed for collective discussion. If no practical situation is available, we organize the meetings through critical readings of texts of law or through comments on articles dealing with Ethics. We retain four main ethical topics: the information given to the patient and his family, the acceptance of the person, the balance of benefits/risks and one's individual ethics as opposed to the ethics of a group. At this point in time, we are pleased with the organization of these workshops and feel that they meet our expectations. Thanks to the diverse experiences and activities of each participant, the discussions on Ethics are of high quality.


CONCLUSIONS
As a place of shared discussions/thoughts, these ethical workshops could constitute a reference to be used when making decisions in complex situations. Other than the importance of the ethical questions that are raised, it should encourage open-minded attitudes and enrich the actions of each of us by making us more aware of the ethical concerns in daily situations. Finally, these workshops could be a field of research for theses, dissertations and answer the training and research needs of a memory centre.
Département de médecine gériatrique et communautaire (DMGC), centre mémoire de ressources et de recherche Grenoble-Arc-Alpin (CMRR GAA), Elisée-Chatin, CHU de Grenoble, BP 217, 38043 Grenoble cedex 9, France. CMontani@chu-grenoble.fr
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Montani
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Molines
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Moreaud
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Franco
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D004493:Education; D004995:Ethics, Professional; D006801:Humans; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology