A new study conducted by researchers at Regenstrief Institute, Indiana University Center for Aging Research and the Charles Warren Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics of Indiana University Health has found that the decision making process of people who take medical decisions on behalf of a family member who is unable to do so is more complicated compared to the decision making process of the patients themselves. The researchers found that family decision-makers considered the cognitively impaired patient's wishes and interests. But they also took into account their own needs and preferences.
Factors influencing surrogate decision-makers included:
- Respect for the patient's input.
- The patient's prior wishes.
- Consideration of the patient's best interests.
- The surrogate's own wishes as a guide.
- The surrogate's religious and spiritual beliefs.
- The surrogate's own interests.
- Family consensus.
"Surrogates also consider the feelings and beliefs of other family members," said Dr. Torke, senior author of the study. "The individuals who are making decisions for those who cannot are the survivors -- they take into account the fact that they have to live with other family members as and after they make surrogate decisions."
"Making Decisions for Hospitalized Older Adults: Ethical Factors Considered by Family Surrogates" is published in the Summer 2013 issue of the Journal of Clinical Ethics.
An estimated four out of 10 hospitalized adults lack decision-making capacity due to cognitive impairment. When patients are unable to make their own decisions, surrogates often are called upon. Dr. Torke notes that the need for surrogate decision-making is growing as life-sustaining medical technology becomes more available, the population ages, and the prevalence of diseases such as Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia increases.
Advertisement
"Because surrogates also imagine what they would want under the circumstances and consider their own needs and preferences as well as those of the patient for whom they are acting, standard ethical models of surrogate decision-making [in the academic literature] must account for these additional considerations," the paper noted. "Surrogates' desire for more information about patient preferences suggests a need for greater advance care planning."
Advertisement
Source-Eurekalert