Abstract
Caring for unrepresented patients encompasses legal, ethical, and moral challenges regarding decision-making, consent, the patient’s values, wishes, best interest, and the healthcare team’s professional integrity and autonomy. In this article, I consider the impact of the aging population and the effects of the social determinants of health and suggest that without preventive intervention, the number of unrepresented patients will continue to increase. The health, social, and legal risk factors for becoming unrepresented require a multidisciplinary response. Medical-Legal Partnerships (MLPs) bring healthcare and legal professionals together to address risk factors and health-harming legal needs. The article discusses the role of MLPs in identifying at-risk individuals, providing preventive interventions, and providing support. I make recommendations and conclude that proactive MLPs offer a sustainable approach to the ethical challenges in caring for unrepresented patients by providing interventions to prevent individuals from becoming unrepresented.
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Notes
As used in this article, the term ‘surrogate’ refers to the person making medical decisions on behalf of an incapacitated person and includes an ‘agent’ or ‘proxy.’.
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Lively, C.L.P. Medical-Legal Partnerships and Prevention: Caring for Unrepresented Patients Through Early Identification and Intervention. HEC Forum (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10730-023-09518-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10730-023-09518-x