Palliative Care
Associated with care delivered to persons with terminal disease. To palliate means to relieve symptoms without curing them. In this regard, palliative treatment refers to
September 11, 2011
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Advance Directives
Advance directives are written legal documents by which patients express their wishes about the kind of health care they want to receive in the event
September 11, 2011
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Living will
A legal document that allows people to state in advance their desire to receive, or their desire to withhold, life-support and other life-sustaining procedures when
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Informed Consent
The concept of individual autonomy, the right of an individual to make decisions about one’s life and medical care, is the basic principle underlying patients’
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Hospice
Hospice is a non-institutional health care alternative for terminally ill persons. Nearly all hospice care is delivered to a patient in his or her home.
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Double Effect
The ethical principle of Double Effect is used to justify medical treatment designed to relieve suffering where death is its unintended (though foreseen) consequence. According
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DNR – Do Not Resuscitate Orders
Also often called a “no code,” a DNR is placed on a patient’s medical chart to indicate there should be no attempt to restart a
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Decisional Capacity
Refers to the ability of a patient to make a rational choice in his or her own best interest. A person may be diagnosed as
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Comfort Care
Comfort Care refers to care that is designed to provide comfort and dignity when curative therapy is no longer appropriate. It includes the process of
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Choices when Dying 2003
Globally, various positive developments have happened this year to obtain choices for a dignified death, according to the World Federation of Right to Die Societies
September 11, 2011
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