Law and Ethics of Dementia

Charles Foster is a Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford and a practising barrister. Jonathan Herring is Professor of Law at the University of Oxford. Israel Doron is Head of the Department of Gerontology, University of Haifa.

• PART I: MEDICAL FUNDAMENTALS1. What is Dementia? Elissa L Ash2. The Demographics of Dementia Israel (Issi) Doron3. The Genetics of Dementia Sophie Behrman, Klaus P Ebmeier and Charlotte L Allan4. Can Dementia be Prevented? Amos D Korczyn and Veronika Vakhapova5. Clinical Management of Dementia: An Overview (1) Noa Bregman and Orna Moore6. Clinical Management of Dementia: An Overview (2) Chris Fox, Carolyn Chew-Graham, Emma Wolverson, Ian Maidment and Andrea Hilton7. Best Interests Determination: A Medical Perspective Hugh Series8. Advance Decisions and Proxy Decision-Making in the Elderly: A Medical Perspective Gary Sinoff and Natalia Blaja-Lisnic9. The Happy Dementia Patient Hugh Series10. Dementia: A Perspective from Primary Care Daniel LassersonPART II: ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES11. Dementia: An Ethical Overview Michael Dunn12. Best Interests Determinations and Substituted Judgement: Personhood and Precedent Autonomy Andrew McGee13. Proxy Decision-Making José Miola14. Telling the Truth: The Ethics of Deception and White Lies in Dementia Care Maartje Schermer15. Research on Patients with Dementia Adrian Treloar and Claudia Dunlop16. Genetics and Dementia: Ethical ConcernsCaroline J Huang, Michael Parker and Matthew L Baum17. Common Perceptions of DementiaPerla Werner18. Ethical Perspectives on End-of-Life Care: Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide and the Refusal of or Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Treatments in those Living with Dementia Michael Gordon19. Resource Allocation Issues in DementiaLeah Rand and Mark Sheehan20. Sexuality in Dementia Julian C Hughes, Aileen Beatty and Jeanette Shippen21. The Use of New Technologies in Managing Dementia Patients Julian C Hughes22. Abuse, Safeguarding and Dementia Bridget PenhalePART III: LEGAL PERSPECTIVES23. A Legal Overview Mary Donnelly24. Assessing Capacity Lesley King and Hugh Series25. Best Interests and Dementia Jonathan Herring26. Proxy Decision-Making: A Legal Perspective Winsor C Schmidt27. Being and Being Lost: Personal Identity and Dementia Jesse Wall28. Dementia, Autonomy and Guardianship for the Old Margaret Isabel Hall29. Restriction of Liberty Michael Schindler and Yael Waksman30. Research on Patients with Dementia Phil Bielby31. Dementia and Carers: Relationality and InformalCarers’ Experiences Rosie Harding32. End-of-Life Care Ofra G Golan33. Health Care Resource Allocation Issues in Dementia Keith Syrett34. The Use of New Technologies in the Management of Dementia Patients Karen EltisPART IV: SOCIAL ASPECTS OF DEMENTIA35. Discrimination Doug Surtees36. Physical, Financial and other Abuse Ruijia Chen, E-Shien Chang, Melissa Simon and XinQi Dong37. Driving and Dementia Desmond O’Neill38. Voting and Political Participation Nina A KohnPART V: PATIENT AND CARER PERSPECTIVES39. This is My Life Peter JS Ashley40. Dad’s DementiaAndrew Billen41. Lewy Body Disease: A Carer’s Perspective Sue Berkeley and Rob Berkeley42. Our Journey Shirley Nurock43. The Power of Imagination Peter Richards44. Dementia Care: Workpoints U Hla Htay

The Law and Ethics of Dementia is a very big book - in every sense of the word. It has sat on my bedside table for a few months, where I have eyed it guiltily - put off by its size and weighty subject matter. I wish I hadn't. I picked it up one Sunday morning a few weeks ago, intending to read one or two articles, and found I could not put it down. The chapters I read (and I have, by now, read most of them) were well written, and the perfect length to convey an idea well and clearly. The chapters are accessible enough for somebody who is new to this field to read and understand, whilst still exploring cutting edge questions that will interest people who are familiar with these issues.In short, this book is a real chocolate box of well written and interesting articles. Although most of the articles consider UK law, several chapters offer a more international perspective, and the ethical and medical chapters will be of interest to readers around the world. The book could be of interest for those with personal experiences of dementia, not merely philosophers and lawyers. As I was going through, I used up an entire packet of sticky index tabs to flag up passages that I wanted to return. I suspect this is a book I will be re-reading and thinking about for years to come.