Decisions at the End of Life is the last volume in a trilogy on Aging conceived for the International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine. Leading scholars from a range of disciplines examine some of the most emotive topics in the study of aging: assessing quality of life, improving end-of-life care, palliative care, euthanasia, and consent to research.

Inhalt

Preface. Acknowledgments. Contributors. Quality of Life. How we think (deeply but with limits) about quality of life: The necessity of wisdom for aging; P.J. Whitehouse, J. Ballenger, S. Katz. Ethics and quality of life in the elderly; F. Lolas. Palliative Care. Palliative care: A weak link in the chain of civilized life; L.L. Emanuel. Assisted Death. Assisted death in the Netherlands and its relationship with age; G.K. Kimsma. Why euthanasia should not be legalized: A reflection on the Dutch experiment; H. Jochemsen. Managing death: End-of-life charades and decisions; G.P. Smith, II. Challenges and dilemmas in the `aging and euthanasia' policy cocktail; R.S. Magnusson. Suicide. End-of-life decisions in terminal illness: A psychiatric perspective; L. Sherr, F. Starace. Suicide: Implications for an aging society; N. Watanabe, M. Taguchi, K. Hasegawa. Research Ethics. Research on elderly subjects: Striking the right balance; A. Schafer. Community consent for research on the impaired elderly; D.C. Thomasma. Regulating ethical research involving cognitively impaired elderly subjects: Canada as a case study; G.F. Tomossy, D.N. Weisstub, S. Gauthier. Index.