Alzheimer,+Dementia+and+the+Living+Will-+A+Proposal

Burlá, Claudia, et al. "Alzheimer, Dementia and the Living Will: A Proposal." Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy, vol. 17, no. 3, Aug. 2014, pp. 389-395. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11019-014-9559-8.

Because the age of living has drastically increased, people are now being diagnosed with incurable degenerative diseases. Longer life comes with health issues that are associated with older aged people. Because medicine has advanced, people may now prolong their life if they are diagnosed with such diseases such as Alzheimer’s or dementia. However, what if people do not want these treatment options? According to the article, these treatments go against some people’s ethical values. This is where living wills become relevant. A living will can state what a person does or does not want if they are in a situation where they are unresponsive.This article is good for my research because it shows the purpose of a living will. This article also gives a good scenario in which why people may want to consider a living will. Normally I think of living wills as being in place for children when their parents die. The journal gave me another perspective by showing that the wills could be used for ethical reasons.