Fostering relational autonomy in end-of-life care : a procedural approach and three-dimensional decision-making model

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ..

Respect for patient autonomy is paramount in resolving ethical tensions in end-of-life care. The concept of relational autonomy has contributed to this debate; however, scholars often use this concept in a fragmented manner. This leads to partial answers on ascertaining patients' true wishes, meaningfully engaging patients' significant others, balancing interests among patients and significant others, and determining clinicians' obligations to change patients' unconventional convictions to enhance patient autonomy. A satisfactory solution based on relational autonomy must incorporate patients' competence (apart from decisional capacity), authenticity (their true desires or beliefs) and the involvement level of their significant others. To that end, we argue that John Christman's procedural approach to relational autonomy provides critical insights, such as the diachronic or socio-historical personhood, sustained critical reflection and his recent explication of the nature of asymmetrical relationships and helpful interlocutors. This study reviews Christman's account, proposes minor modifications and advocates for an integrated three-dimensional model for medical decision-making. Clarifying the relationship among the three elements promotes an ethical framework with a coherent understanding of relational autonomy. This model not only provides a descriptive and normative framework for end-of-life care practice but also reconsiders the nature of the clinician-patient relationship and its normative implications. We further present a case study to illustrate the merits of our proposed model. Altogether, our proposal will help navigate complex medical decision-making, foster trust and negotiate shared values between patients and their significant others, particularly in end-of-life care.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - year:2024

Enthalten in:

Journal of medical ethics - (2024) vom: 25. März

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Foo, Kar-Fai [VerfasserIn]
Lin, Ya-Ping [VerfasserIn]
Lin, Cheng-Pei [VerfasserIn]
Chen, Yu-Chun [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Decision Making
Journal Article
Personhood
Professional-Patient Relations
Relational Autonomy
Terminal Care

Anmerkungen:

Date Revised 25.03.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status Publisher

doi:

10.1136/jme-2023-109818

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM370173414