End-of-life decision making is more than rational.

Full Abstract

Most medical models of end-of-life decision making by patients assume a rational autonomous adult obtaining and deliberating over information to arrive at some conclusion. If the patient is deemed incapable of this, family members are often nominated as substitutes, with assumptions that the family are united and rational. These are problematic assumptions. We interviewed 23 outpatients with cancer about the decision not to resuscitate a patient following cardiopulmonary arrest and examined their accounts of decision making using discourse analytical techniques. Our analysis suggests that participants access two different interpretative repertoires regarding the construct of persons, invoking a 'modernist' repertoire to assert the appropriateness of someone, a patient or family, making a decision, and a 'romanticist' repertoire when identifying either a patient or family as ineligible to make the decision. In determining the appropriateness of an individual to make decisions, participants informally apply 'Sanity' and 'Stability' tests, assessing both an inherent ability to reason (modernist repertoire) and the presence of emotion (romanticist repertoire) which might impact on the decision making process. Failure to pass the tests respectively excludes or excuses individuals from decision making. The absence of the romanticist repertoire in dominant models of patient decision making has ethical implications for policy makers and medical practitioners dealing with dying patients and their families.

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Author information

Author/s: Eliott, Jaklin A (JA); Olver, Ian N (IN);

Affiliation: Royal Adelaide Hospital Cancer Research Centre, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Australia. jeliot(-atsign-)mail.rah.sa.gov.au

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Communication & medicine (Commun Med), published in Germany. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2005-; vol 2 (issue 1) : pp 21-34

Dates: Created 2006/06/30; Completed 2006/07/27; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 16808705, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Australia
Decision Making - ethics
Emotions
Family
Female
Humans
Interview, Psychological
Linguistics
Male

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