Main description:

Dementia is a topic of enormous human, medical, economic, legal and ethical importance. Its importance grows as more of us live longer. The legal and ethical problems it raises are complex, intertwined and under-discussed. This book brings together contributions from clinicians, lawyers and ethicists - all of them world leaders in the field of dementia - and is a comprehensive, scholarly yet accessible library of all the main (and many of the fringe) perspectives. It begins with the medical facts: what is dementia? Who gets it? What are the current and future therapeutic and palliative options? What are the main challenges for medical and nursing care? The story is then taken up by the ethicists, who grapple with questions such as: is it legitimate to lie to dementia patients if that is a kind thing to do? Who is the person whose memory, preferences and personality have all been transformed by their disease? Should any constraints be placed on the sexual activity of patients? Are GPS tracking devices an unpardonable interference with the patient's freedom? These issues, and many more, are then examined through legal lenses. The book closes with accounts from dementia sufferers and their carers. It is the first and only book of its kind, and the authoritative text.

Contents:

PART I: MEDICAL FUNDAMENTALS
1. What is Dementia?
Elissa L Ash
2. The Demographics of Dementia
Israel (Issi) Doron
3. The Genetics of Dementia
Sophie Behrman, Klaus P Ebmeier and Charlotte L Allan
4. Can Dementia be Prevented?
Amos D Korczyn and Veronika Vakhapova
5. Clinical Management of Dementia: An Overview (1)
Noa Bregman and Orna Moore
6. Clinical Management of Dementia: An Overview (2)
Chris Fox, Carolyn Chew-Graham, Emma Wolverson, Ian Maidment and Andrea Hilton
7. Best Interests Determination: A Medical Perspective
Hugh Series
8. Advance Decisions and Proxy Decision-Making in the Elderly: A Medical Perspective
Gary Sinoff and Natalia Blaja-Lisnic
9. The Happy Dementia Patient
Hugh Series
10. Dementia: A Perspective from Primary Care
Daniel Lasserson

PART II: ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES
11. Dementia: An Ethical Overview
Michael Dunn
12. Best Interests Determinations and Substituted Judgement: Personhood and Precedent Autonomy
Andrew McGee
13. Proxy Decision-Making
Jose Miola
14. Telling the Truth: The Ethics of Deception and White Lies in Dementia Care
Maartje Schermer
15. Research on Patients with Dementia
Adrian Treloar and Claudia Dunlop
16. Genetics and Dementia: Ethical Concerns
Caroline J Huang, Michael Parker and Matthew L Baum
17. Common Perceptions of Dementia
Perla Werner
18. Ethical Perspectives on End-of-Life Care: Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide and the Refusal of or Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Treatments in those Living with Dementia
Michael Gordon
19. Resource Allocation Issues in Dementia
Leah Rand and Mark Sheehan
20. Sexuality in Dementia
Julian C Hughes, Aileen Beatty and Jeanette Shippen
21. The Use of New Technologies in Managing Dementia Patients
Julian C Hughes
22. Abuse, Safeguarding and Dementia
Bridget Penhale

PART III: LEGAL PERSPECTIVES
23. A Legal Overview
Mary Donnelly
24. Assessing Capacity
Lesley King and Hugh Series
25. Best Interests and Dementia
Jonathan Herring
26. Proxy Decision-Making: A Legal Perspective
Winsor C Schmidt
27. Being and Being Lost: Personal Identity and Dementia
Jesse Wall
28. Dementia, Autonomy and Guardianship for the Old
Margaret Isabel Hall
29. Restriction of Liberty
Michael Schindler and Yael Waksman
30. Research on Patients with Dementia
Phil Bielby
31. Dementia and Carers: Relationality and Informal
Carers' Experiences
Rosie Harding
32. End-of-Life Care
Ofra G Golan
33. Health Care Resource Allocation Issues in Dementia
Keith Syrett
34. The Use of New Technologies in the Management of Dementia Patients
Karen Eltis

PART IV: SOCIAL ASPECTS OF DEMENTIA
35. Discrimination
Doug Surtees
36. Physical, Financial and other Abuse
Ruijia Chen, E-Shien Chang, Melissa Simon and XinQi Dong
37. Driving and Dementia
Desmond O'Neill
38. Voting and Political Participation
Nina A Kohn

PART V: PATIENT AND CARER PERSPECTIVES
39. This is My Life
Peter JS Ashley
40. Dad's Dementia
Andrew Billen
41. Lewy Body Disease: A Carer's Perspective
Sue Berkeley and Rob Berkeley
42. Our Journey
Shirley Nurock
43. The Power of Imagination
Peter Richards
44. Dementia Care: Workpoints
U Hla Htay