Alzheimer Et Autonomie

Alzheimer’s disease not only worries and distresses its victims, but shatters their lives. It challenges their personal identity and particularly their autonomy, altering their lives in terms of choices, relationships with others, and the ability to express desires and even thoughts. It imposes on them new rules of thought and decision-making, demanding that the environment and other people adapt to their new way of life. This book presents the questions raised by various actors (doctor, nursing staff, psychologist, sociologist, philosopher, and jurist) on this difficult issue and the problems it creates. What conception of this illness do people have? When first diagnosed with the disease, how do they react? How much weight should our societies, institutions and public health projections give to the status of a so-called “demented” individual? What kind of support should be extended to patients deemed to be “deprived” of their identity and of some of their rights? The challenge of such pluridiciplinary deliberation is partly epistemological – in that it exposes the gap existing between how the illness is perceived, its scientific formulation and its experienced reality – and partly ethical, in that it calls for making a clear distinction between the patient’s entry into a dependent state and loss of autonomy. This book advocates a respect for autonomy that will motivate caregivers and attendants to listen more closely, be more confident, show greater sensitivity, encourage exchanges, and offer more understanding and concern.