This book examines the ethics of end of life care, focusing on the kinds of decisions that are commonly made in clinical practice. Specific attention is paid to the intensification of treatment for terminal symptoms, particularly pain relief, and the withdrawal and withholding of care, particularly life-saving or life-prolonging medical care. The book is structured into three sections. The first section contains essays examining end of life care from the perspective of moral theory and theology. The second sets out various conceptual terms and distinctions relevant to decision-making at the end of life. The third section contains chapters that focus on substantive ethical issues. This format not only provides for a comprehensive analysis of the ethical issues that arise in the context of end of life care but allows readers to effectively trace the philosophical, theological and conceptual underpinnings that inform their specific interests. This work will be of interest to scholars working in the area as well as clinicians, specialists and healthcare professionals who encounter these issues in the course of their practice.

This volume provides a picture of palliative care ethics in the European context. It should interest those involved in the delivery and management of palliative care services, as well as students and researchers.

This book presents a collection of exclusively selected manuscripts on current ethical controversies related to professional practices from an interprofessional perspective. Insights are provided into the diversity of practices and viewpoints from different countries are merged in a unique way. The book contributes to the debate on social and legal issues regarding end-of-life practices such as organ donation, medically assisted dying and advance care planning. In addition, joint international author groups contributed exclusive chapters about European comparisons on end-of-life topics. The focus on country- and culture-specific aspects broadens the view on key issues and makes the book attractive for an international readership. The variety of approaches and methods used informs and inspires the development of new research and best-practice projects.

Explores a range of issues--including pediatric hospice, historical, religious, spiritual and cultural perspectives on the end of life, hospice in nursing homes, surrogate decision making, physician assisted suicide, organ donation, and our society's legal tenants of end-of-life care. Includes an index.

Human death is a mystery. Although scientists have identified the criteria, states, and signs of biological death, undoubtedly the issues of dying and death have a wider meaning. In this book, the authors present current research in the study of the ethical issues, practices and challenges of end-of-life care. Topics discussed include a spiritual perspective of end-of-life experiences; a veterinary oncologist's interprofessional crossover perspective of euthanasia for terminal patients; diabetes and end-of-life care; helping families to cope after the death of a loved one; multidimensional aspects of nursing care for dying patients; spirituality at the end-of-life; challenges of promoting end-of-life care in residential care homes in Hong Kong; and the current situation and challenges of home end-of-life care for the elderly in Japan.

Outlining eight major issues regarding end-of-life care as seen through the lens of the Catholic medical ethics tradition, this work looks at the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary means; the difference between killing and allowing to die; and criteria of patient competence.

This collection of original essays explores the social and relational dimensions of individual autonomy. Rejecting the feminist charge that autonomy is inherently masculinist, the contributors draw on feminist critiques of autonomy to challenge and enrich contemporary philosophical debates about agency, identity, and moral responsibility. The essays analyze the complex ways in which oppression can impair an agent's capacity for autonomy, and investigate connections, neglected by standard accounts, between autonomy and other aspects of the agent, including self-conception, self-worth, memory, and the imagination.