Dementia
Dementia encompasses neurodegenerative conditions, like Alzheimer's, causing progressive cognitive decline impacting memory, reasoning, and daily function. It's a significant clinical, social, and ethical challenge, affecting identity, autonomy, and interdependence.
Some Key Questions
Ethical concerns span early diagnosis through to late-stage care. Predictive tools raise dilemmas around disclosure and psychological burden in the absence of cures. As cognitive capacity diminishes, questions of consent, autonomy, and substitute decision-making become acute. Care provision, often informal and gendered, highlights issues of justice, support, and social recognition.
From a bioethics perspective, dementia invites a shift toward an ethics of care—grounded in dignity, relational autonomy, and social solidarity. It demands not only responsible innovation, but policies and practices that uphold the rights and personhood of those affected.