Ethics and Chronic Illness

This insightful book delves into the ethical complexities of chronic illness, emphasizing collaboration between patients and healthcare professionals. Ethics and Chronic Illness offers a fresh perspective on medical ethics.

This book provides a comprehensive examination of the ethics surrounding chronic illness, a condition characterized by its long-term nature and often incurable status. The author explores how chronic illness challenges traditional medical ethics, particularly the distinctions between beneficence and autonomy, as well as treatment and prevention. Unlike acute illnesses, chronic conditions require ongoing management that is frequently handled by the patient or their family, complicating the roles of healthcare providers and recipients alike.

In Ethics and Chronic Illness, the author conducts a thorough reappraisal of the interplay between autonomy and beneficence throughout the various stages of treatment for different chronic illnesses. A key argument presented is that patients and their families should collaborate with healthcare professionals to achieve shared goals. This collaborative approach raises important ethical questions, such as how to address situations where patients struggle with their self-management, the implications of patient responsibility for their treatment, and the complexities of sharing sensitive information without compromising privacy or confidentiality.

By engaging with philosophical discussions on shared commitments, joint action, responsibility, and justice, the author navigates these challenges, offering valuable insights into the obligations healthcare professionals have toward their patients. Ethics and Chronic Illness is essential reading for those in bioethics, medical ethics, and related fields, as well as medical practitioners involved in the care of chronic illness patients.