Ethical issues for persons with aphasia and their families.
Ethical issues frequently arise in the care of patients with aphasia and their families. The family is often the most important group with whom an individual interacts and with whom crucial life decisions are made following brain injury. For individuals with aphasia, who may have trouble understanding information and communicating their wishes, the patient's role and thefamily's rolewith decision making may be particularly complex. This article discusses (a) patient self-determination, (b) evaluation ofthe patient's decision-making capacity,
a Staff Speech-Language Pathologist Center for Stroke Rehabilitation, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Chicago , Illinois.
Lynne C
LC
Brady
b Assistant Director, Center for Stroke Rehabilitation Chairperson, Ethics Program Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Chicago , Illinois.
Kristi L
KL
Kirschner
aphasia; decision-making capacity; ethics; families; self-determination