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- Title
Fasting to stop suffering in advanced dementia.
- Authors
Allen, William Lawrence
- Abstract
Many healthcare providers think withholding food and fluids from advance dementia patients, even if those patients requested that when competent, is immoral. This means such patients suffer unnecessarily long. Patients have the ethical right when capacitated to specify that they want assistance with food and drink stopped when they have advanced dementia. Physicians should implement these patient choices when advance dementia patients can no longer feed themselves. In some states there may be legal barriers to this practice. The perpetual placement of food and drink within reach of patients who are unable to feed themselves is futile, so there is no need for it. The best way for persons concerned about suffering in advanced dementia is to add a supplement to one's advance directive specifying under what circumstances one wants food and fluids assistance stopped.
- Subjects
DEMENTIA; DEMENTIA patients; MEDICAL personnel; FLUID foods; SUFFERING; ADVANCE directives (Medical care)
- Publication
Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, 2024, Vol 16, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2352-8729
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1002/dad2.12532