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Article: Dementia: Ethical Issues
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Aging
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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DEMENTIA: ETHICAL ISSUES
There has been much progress in the ethics of dementia care. Dementia is a syndrome (i.e., a cluster of symptoms) that can be caused by a myriad of diseases. The most common disease cause of irreversible, progressive dementia is Alzheimer's disease, which this article will frequently allude to.
Moral progress is evident in the fact that the use of physical restraints is diminishing in nursing homes. By the mid-1990s, ample evidence had accumulated that "minimal restraint" or "no restraint" policies actually keep persons with dementia safest, for otherwise they can choke to death on strapped chairs, or fail to thrive as a direct result of physical coercion. ...