https://www.thehastingscenter.org/news/dementia-and-the-ethics-of-choosing-when-to-die/
As the American population ages and dementia is on the rise, The Hastings Center is embarking on pathbreaking research to explore foundational questions associated with the dementia trajectory and the concerns of persons facing this terminal condition. This new research is made possible by a major grant to The Hastings Center from The Robert W.… Read more
HASTINGS CENTER NEWS
Old Jews are why I am who I am. Not only the old Jews you’d expect–my grandparents and great-grandparents, who came here because, as I learned for a family history project in third grade, “it was bad in Russia.” Also, the elderly couple who in 1992 shared a room at the Jewish Home. Holocaust survivors,… Read more
BIOETHICS FORUM ESSAY
Four articles in the Hastings Center Report make an array of claims about  whether advance directives should or should not be used to instruct caregivers to withhold oral feeding of a person who reaches a designated stage of  dementia. I would like to advance some central ethical observations on the matter. A life can be… Read more
Nearly 11 million Americans use long-term care for help with daily tasks such as bathing and preparing meals, and yet few have private long-term care insurance. Thus, most of the cost of this care, which averages $140,000 a year, falls on family members and Medicaid. The scope of the problem and what should be done… Read more
Dying cannot be understood properly, or responded to well, without recourse to the connections between the dying experience and the larger social structures that make up a social and civic community. To develop this perspective further, it is important to envision a new kind of palliative care system that extends beyond professional expertise and a… Read more
It’s a little-known and rarely discussed fact of medical practice that doctors value the ability to love our patients. If the thought of doctors loving patients makes you queasy, be reassured. I’m not talking about romantic love but the visceral sense of goodwill and impulse to service that draws young people to the profession and… Read more
Eric Kandel, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine who has done groundbreaking work on the molecular mechanisms of memory, spoke at The Hastings Center on May 22 about the differences between normal age-related memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as the possibility that exercise might protect or even enhance memory… Read more
That question was the focus of  “Long Term Care in New York City, circa 2030,” a panel discussion hosted by the New York City Bar Association on May 3 that included Hastings research scholar Nancy Berlinger. In 2030, one million New Yorkers will be age 65 or older. This trend is consistent worldwide in wealthy societies… Read more
For the first few years after my husband Howard died, I talked to him often. These were not ghostly, paranormal encounters; I was just thinking out loud about my life without him. Ten years later, these occasions happen less frequently, usually connected with an anniversary or a family event. In my imagination, he looks like… Read more
An old woman desperately needs medical attention. Yet she fiercely refuses every offer of help from friends, neighbors, and the local doctor. No one will get past her door, she vows. Respecting her autonomy means leaving her alone, possibly to die. Intervening to save her means risking her wrath and losing her friendship and respect.… Read more
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