Advance Directives and Research Advance Directives

Dean Hart

doi:10.52214/vib.v7i.8594

Abstract

Advance Directives and Research Advance Directives

Highlights

This paper explores a way to ensure a person’s autonomy and legacy are preserved during the experience of dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease
Due to the profound effect the disease has on memory, the “person of the lifetime” becomes seemingly disconnected from the “person of the moment,” or the person experiencing memory loss
research advance directives (RADs) are appealing because they guide decisions, as do ADs; their unique appeal that is specific to RAD as part of AD is that the certainty of a permanently preserved legacy of valuing medical research in writing could take precedence over the uncertainty facing the person of the moment

Summary

Preserving Legacy

A legacy is the part of a patient that will persist into the future, even after death. The National Bioethics Advisory Committee in the US recommended RADs,[13] which allow people to join studies when the treatment or medicine would benefit them, and possibly when it would benefit the larger public and has some potential to benefit the person.[14] Porteri asserts that RADs should include consent based on the type and degree of risk, as it is impossible to predict the types of treatment or the anticipated side effects in future studies.[15] the person’s autonomy of a lifetime should take precedence because further research offers patients hope for both their legacy and the legacies of others. RADs are appealing because they guide decisions, as do ADs; their unique appeal that is specific to RAD as part of AD is that the certainty of a permanently preserved legacy of valuing medical research in writing could take precedence over the uncertainty facing the person of the moment At present, these are still tenuous grounds, requiring philosophical and other solutions. Philosophical belief, and autonomy must be respected once the capacity to make decisions is lost

Recommendations

CONCLUSION