Allowing them to make decisions about their care
A new dementia educational resource for health professionals, including aged care workers, aims to raise awareness of the issues around limitation of care orders and cardiopulmonary resuscitation in people living with dementia.
A new resource highlights that people with dementia deserve the same opportunities as everyone else to be involved in making decisions about their treatment and lives.
The Limitation of care orders: Making an informed choice resource, released by The Dementia Training Study Centre and developed by Professor Joseph Ibrahim from Monash University, highlights that people with dementia deserve the same opportunities as everyone else to be involved in making decisions about their treatment and lives and care should be exercised by others when presuming a certain quality of life for the person living with dementia.
The resource consists of:
- Context and background information
- An animated video presenting the issues and dilemmas
- Key questions for health educators to prompt discussion
- Key questions for people living with dementia and their family
There is controversy and concerns from patients, families and the public about limitation of care orders. The effective use of limitation of care orders is one of the most difficult skills to master in clinical medicine. Although dementia is the fourth leading cause of death in high income, countries most limitation of care orders policies and guidelines do not specifically consider what to do if a person has dementia.
The resource suggests a person with dementia is often incorrectly assumed to lack the capacity to make decisions about limitation of care orders. This assumption occurs frequently and as a result, patients are denied information and participation in end of life care decision making. Patients with mild to moderate dementia often retain the capacity for some clinical care decisions and should be given the opportunity to participate.
The resource promotes a balanced and empathetic approach to decision making in these circumstances which takes an individualised approach, recognising the complex legal, ethical and clinical issues.
The video is intended for viewing in a structured education session, ideally facilitated by a health educator who is able to explain, discuss and debate the key issues.
The resource is designed primarily for an audience of medical practitioners and other health professionals. The content may also be of interest to the general public to help inform their discussions with health professionals.
Download the Limitation of care orders: Making an informed choice resource.
