Respecting agency in dementia care : When should truthfulness give way?

Journal article


Matthews, Steve and Kennett, Jeanette. (2022). Respecting agency in dementia care : When should truthfulness give way? Journal of Applied Philosophy. 31(1), pp. 117-131. https://doi.org/10.1111/japp.12541
AuthorsMatthews, Steve and Kennett, Jeanette
Abstract

Memory loss and other cognitive decline threaten people's capacities to make sense of the world and their position within it. In Alzheimer's Disease (AD), such losses occur when the desire to make sense of the experienced world remains. When this desire cannot be satisfied, confusion, agitation, or anger may result. In these situations, a resolution aiming at the truth is not guaranteed to work, and may even exacerbate a difficult situation, since losses to sense making may damage even the receptivity to it. When the truth is out of reach in this way, the aim ought to be instead to create the conditions of proper fit – a fit that is intelligible – between current experience, self-image, and a world that makes sense. We argue that this aim rests on what we call the demand for sense-making, a demand that arises for all of us where respect for agency is at stake, and especially so in AD, when it is under threat.

Year2022
JournalJournal of Applied Philosophy
Journal citation31 (1), pp. 117-131
PublisherWiley
ISSN1468-5930
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/japp.12541
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85109320730
Page range117-131
FunderAustralian Research Council (ARC)
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online02 Jul 2021
Publication process dates
Accepted04 Jun 2021
Deposited28 Oct 2021
ARC Funded ResearchThis output has been funded, wholly or partially, under the Australian Research Council Act 2001
Grant IDDP180103262
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