Drawing on extensive data including news media reports and commentaries, documentaries, courts and court reports, films, websites, professional literature and government and non-government agencies, this book explores the 'Alzheimerisation' of the euthanasia debate, examining the shift in recent years in public attitudes towards the desirability and moral permissibility of euthanasia as an end-of-life 'solution' for people living with the disease - not just at its end stage, but also at earlier stages. With attention to media representations and public understandings of Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimer's Disease, Media Representations and the Politics of Euthanasia sheds light on the processes contributing to these changes in public opinion, investigating the drivers of vexed political debate surrounding the issue and examining the manner in which both sides of the euthanasia debate mobilise support, portray their opponents and make use of media technologies to frame the terms of discourse. Paving the way for a greater level of intellectual honesty with regard to an issue carrying significant policy implications, this book will be of interest to scholars of media and communication, social movements and political communication, and the sociology of health and medicine, as well as researchers and professionals in the fields of palliative and end of life care.

Drawing on extensive data including news media reports and commentaries, documentaries, courts and court reports, films, websites, professional literature and government and non-government agencies, this book explores the 'Alzheimerisation' of the euthanasia debate, examining the shift in recent years in public attitudes towards the desirability and moral permissibility of euthanasia as an end-of-life 'solution' for people living with the disease - not just at its end stage, but also at earlier stages. With attention to media representations and public understandings of Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimer's Disease, Media Representations and the Politics of Euthanasia sheds light on the processes contributing to these changes in public opinion, investigating the drivers of vexed political debate surrounding the issue and examining the manner in which both sides of the euthanasia debate mobilise support, portray their opponents and make use of media technologies to frame the terms of discourse. Paving the way for a greater level of intellectual honesty with regard to an issue carrying significant policy implications, this book will be of interest to scholars of media and communication, social movements and political communication, and the sociology of health and medicine, as well as researchers and professionals in the fields of palliative and end of life care.

This book focuses on the public policy and political dimensions of Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias (AD/D) in the United States, with coverage of the global dimensions and relevant examples from other countries. Starting off with a discussion on the characteristics of AD/D and competing theories of their causes, their human and financial costs, and the increasing burden they place on all societies as populations age, the book examines in detail the range of policy issues they raise. These include funding policies, payment policy and regulatory functions, long-term services and support (LTCS), public health and prevention policies. The book analyses the big business surrounding AD/D and shows that the strong public fear of developing dementia heightens the likelihood of exploitation of vulnerable people looking for a technological fix. It examines both informal and formal caregivers and the heavy burden placed on families, primarily women, and recent policy attempts to strengthen LTCS. It also examines the latest evidence of potential risk-reduction and prevention strategies and the difficult issues surrounding advance directives, assisted suicide, and definitions of death that increasingly face policy makers. It concludes by analyzing the policy implications on possible technological scenarios.

This book comprehensively explores social, political and cultural dimensions of health in contemporary society. It addresses many issues and pertinent questions, including the following: Are we over diagnosed and over medicated? How can patients participate in their own care? Do pharmaceutical companies coerce us into medication regimes? What drives inequalities in health outcomes? What is the experience of health care for indigenous communities? Why do different countries have such different health care systems? How do we respond to life-changing conditions? Can we achieve a ‘good death’? How do new genetics shape our identities? Is public health a force of liberation or disempowerment? The book incorporates the range of levels of influence on health, covering individual patient experiences, the health professions, multinational corporations, the state, global organisations as well as examining trends in social organisation, cultural expression and technological developments. It volume provides an accessible, yet in-depth, overview and discussion of the sociology of health. The chapters include an illustrative case study and further readings relating to the topic.

This book examines writings by people living with Alzheimer's Disease and their caregivers. Its focus areas include the construction of the self in the face of diminishing linguistic and cognitive abilities, the stigmatization of ageing, the various narrative strategies that these texts (often collaborative) employ, the health activism and advocacy generated via a 'biosociality,' and the ethics of care. It examines the 'disease writing' genre about a condition that ravages the ability to use language. It serves as a "literary" examination of the work done in this area through a critical reading of the memoirs of those with AD and caregivers and a healthy dose of literary theory. The book is a valuable resource for those interested in literary and critical theory and researchers in the field of ageing/dementia studies.

Now in its eighth edition, Bioethics: A Nursing Perspective provides practical guidance on the ethical issues you might come across in nursing practice, with real-world examples that help to bring this important subject to life. Author Dr Megan-Jane Johnstone AO, Australia's foremost nursing ethics scholar, provides a comprehensive framework for negotiating the ethical challenges, obligations and responsibilities you might face. The text is engaging and easy to follow, and has been fully updated to reflect current issues in health care such as nurse practitioner assisted dying, pandemic ethics, and the moral costs of misinformation and medical conspiracy theories. . This book is a suitable companion to the law and ethics components of both undergraduate and postgraduate nursing studies, and is relevant for all nurses who encounter ethical problems in their everyday practice. - Written in an engaging style – suitable for undergraduate as well as postgraduate students and researchers - Focuses on prominent and topical ethical issues facing individual nurses as well as the broader profession - Covers a broad range of bioethical issues in health care and how these relate to various fundamental traditions in philosophical ethics - Real-life case studies and hypothetical scenarios to encourage debate - Covers hot topics in modern nursing practice, including: - Professional standards - How to make moral decisions - Cross-cultural ethics, including the problem of racism - Dehumanisation and vulnerable populations - Patient rights - Mental health care ethics - End-of-life care - Moral politics of abortion and euthanasia - Moral lessons of COVID-19 Additional resources on Evolve eBook on VitalSource - Questions fostering critical reflection to support learning - Key points and new chapter groupings for easy navigation - New chapter on pandemic ethics

This volume seeks to instigate a discussion about dementia in theatre. The discussions in this book borrow from the literature on dementia’s representation in other artforms, while reflecting on theatre’s unique capacity to incorporate multiple artforms in a live context (hypermediacy). The author examines constructions of diegesis and the use of various performance tools, including physical theatre, puppetry, and postdramatic performance. She discusses stage representations of interior experiences of dementia; selfhood in dementia; the demarcation of those with dementia from those without; endings, erasure, and the pursuit of catharsis; placelessness and disruptions of traditional dramatic constructions of time; and ultimately, performances creatively led by people with dementia. The book traces patterns of narrativisation on the stage—including common dramaturgical forms, settings, and character relationships—as well as examples that transcend mainstream representation. This book is important reading for theatre and performance students, scholars, and practitioners, as well as cultural studies writers engaged in research about narratives of dementia.

In the last 30 years, a distinctive intersection between disability studies – including disability rights advocacy, disability rights activism, and disability law – and disability arts, culture, and media studies has developed. The two fields have worked in tandem to offer critique of representations of disability in dominant cultural systems, institutions, discourses, and architecture, and develop provocative new representations of what it means to be disabled. Divided into 5 sections: Disability, Identity, and Representation Inclusion, Wellbeing, and Whole-of-life Experience Access, Artistry, and Audiences Practices, Politics and the Public Sphere Activism, Adaptation, and Alternative Futures this handbook brings disability arts, disability culture, and disability media studies – traditionally treated separately in publications in the field to date – together for the first time. It provides scholars, graduate students, upper level undergraduate students, and others interested in the disability rights agenda with a broad-based, practical and accessible introduction to key debates in the field of disability art, culture, and media studies. An internationally recognised selection of authors from around the world come together to articulate the theories, issues, interests, and practices that have come to define the field. Most critically, this book includes commentaries that forecast the pressing present and future concerns for the field as scholars, advocates, activists, and artists work to make a more inclusive society a reality.

This book brings together theologians, clergy, people with dementia, carers, clinicians and others to offer a holistic, interdisciplinary exploration of dementia which focuses not only on what dementia is and what it is not, but more importantly, what it means to live well with dementia and to find hope where sometimes it feels like there is no hope. Located within practical theology and theological anthropology, the diversity of perspectives on dementia presented in this book offers deep insights into what it means to be a human being, to live humanly in the midst of difficult situations, and helps us understand and navigate the complexities of the dementia journey. In offering foundational practical and theoretical knowledge, the book helps cut through the false consciousness of modernity and enter a world where personhood is defined not by our capacities or the loss of them, but by God’s loving presence. It offers a contextual theological framework to look beyond what we assume to be obvious and to recognize the “hidden” depths that can be discovered and encountered within individuals as they journey into dementia. In doing so, it takes seriously the lived experience of people with dementia and allows that to shape, form, and perhaps reform our understandings of God, human beings, and what it means to live well. Taken as a whole, the book posits that together, we can reflect upon and act out a hopeful future that makes people’s lives meaningful, purposeful and loving even in the midst of the challenges that Dementia brings. Still Waters Run Deep will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of theology, divinity and religious studies, gerontology, psychology, mental health, and nursing. The chapters included in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging.

Dementia is a topic of enormous human, medical, economic, legal and ethical importance. Its importance grows as more of us live longer. The legal and ethical problems it raises are complex, intertwined and under-discussed. This book brings together contributions from clinicians, lawyers and ethicists – all of them world leaders in the field of dementia – and is a comprehensive, scholarly yet accessible library of all the main (and many of the fringe) perspectives. It begins with the medical facts: what is dementia? Who gets it? What are the current and future therapeutic and palliative options? What are the main challenges for medical and nursing care? The story is then taken up by the ethicists, who grapple with questions such as: is it legitimate to lie to dementia patients if that is a kind thing to do? Who is the person whose memory, preferences and personality have all been transformed by their disease? Should any constraints be placed on the sexual activity of patients? Are GPS tracking devices an unpardonable interference with the patient's freedom? These issues, and many more, are then examined through legal lenses. The book closes with accounts from dementia sufferers and their carers. It is the first and only book of its kind, and the authoritative text.