| Title |
Ethical dilemmas concerning autonomy when persons with dementia wish to live at home: a qualitative, hermeneutic study
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
BMC Health Services Research, January 2016
|
| DOI | 10.1186/s12913-015-1217-1 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Kari Lislerud Smebye, Marit Kirkevold, Knut Engedal |
| Abstract |
Caring for people with dementia living in their own homes is a challenging care issue that raises ethical dilemmas of how to balance autonomy with their safety and well-being. The theoretical framework for this study consisted of the concepts of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, paternalism and from the ethics of care. The aim of this study was to explore ethical dilemmas concerning autonomy that were identified when persons with dementia wished to live at home. This Norwegian study had a qualitative, hermeneutic design and was based on nine cases. Each case consisted of of a triad: the person with dementia, the family carer and the professional caregiver. Inclusion criteria for the persons with dementia were: (1) 67 years or older (2) diagnosed with dementia (3) Clinical Dementia Rating score 2 i.e. dementia of moderate degree (4) able to communicate verbally and (5) expressed a wish to live at home. The family carers and professional caregivers registered in the patients' records were included in the study. An interview guide was used in interviews with family carers and professional caregivers. Field notes were written after participant observation of interactions between persons with dementia and professional caregivers during morning care or activities at a day care centre. By means of deductive analysis, autonomy-related ethical dilemmas were identified. The final interpretation was based on perspectives from the theoretical framework. The analysis revealed three main ethical dilemmas: When the autonomy of the person with dementia conflicted with (1) the family carer's and professional caregiver's need to prevent harm (non-maleficence) (2) the beneficence of family carers and professional caregivers (3) the autonomy of the family carer. In order to remain living in their own homes, people with dementia accepted their dependence on others in order to uphold their actual autonomy and live in accordance with their identified values. Paternalism could be justified in light of beneficence and non-maleficence and within an ethics of care. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 1 | 50% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1 | 50% |
| Scientists | 1 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 271 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 271 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 54 | 20% |
| Student > Master | 39 | 14% |
| Researcher | 24 | 9% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 20 | 7% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 11 | 4% |
| Other | 32 | 12% |
| Unknown | 91 | 34% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing and Health Professions | 69 | 25% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 36 | 13% |
| Social Sciences | 19 | 7% |
| Psychology | 17 | 6% |
| Engineering | 7 | 3% |
| Other | 32 | 12% |
| Unknown | 91 | 34% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 April 2018.
All research outputs
#16,741,655
of 25,402,889 outputs
Outputs from BMC Health Services Research
#6,139
of 8,646 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#233,124
of 403,112 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Health Services Research
#74
of 96 outputs
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