Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Technical Aspects of Obtaining Informed Consent from Persons with Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer’s Type

  • Chapter
Alzheimer’s Dementia

Part of the book series: Contemporary Issues in Biomedicine, Ethics, and Society ((CIBES))

Abstract

Although several authors have recently championed the cause of informed consent in clinical geriatrics,1–4 few have dealt with specific, nuts-and-bolts issues involving technique. And yet, as any mouse who has tried to bell the cat can tell you, once the idea mice have had their say, technique is everything. In this paper I shall treat such technical issues as presentation of content, informed consent forms, and perceptual adjuncts to facilitate the communication of the proposed experiment or therapy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. W. T. Reich, “Ethical issues related to research involving elderly subjects,” Gerontologist 18, 1978, 326–327.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. J. L. Makarushka, and R. D. McDonald “Informed consent, research, and geriatric patients: the responsibility of institutional review committees,” Gerontologist 19, 1979, 61–66.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. H. A. Taub, “Informed consent, memory and age,” Gerontologist 20, 1980, 686–690.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. R. M. Ratzan, “Cautiousness, risk, and informed consent in clinical geriatrics,” Clinical Research 30, 1982, 345–353.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. G. Plimpton, ed., Writers at Work, 3rd series, New York: Penguin, 1977, 3–30.

    Google Scholar 

  6. M. O. Wolanin, “Communication with the aged,” in H. B. Haley, and P. A. Keenan, eds., Health Care of the Aged, Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1981, 100–109.

    Google Scholar 

  7. J. B. McKinlay “Who is really ignorant—physician or patient?” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 16, 1975, 3–11.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. W. W. Lowrance, Of Acceptable Risk, Los Altos, California: Wm Kaufmann, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  9. B. D. Dinman, “Occupational health and the reality of risk—an eternal dilemma of tragic choices,” Journal of Occupational Medicine 22, 1980, 153–157.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. B Dinman, “The reality and acceptance of risk,” Journal of the American edical Association 244, 1980, 1226–1228.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. L. Kopelman, “Estimating risk in human research,” Clinical Research 29, 1981, 1–8.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. R. M. Ratzan “ ‘Being old makes you different’: the ethics of research with elderly subjects,” Hastings Center Report 10, 1980, 32–42.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Making health care decisions: the ethical and legal implications of informed consent in the patient-practitioner relationship.“ Volume one:report. President’s Commission for the study of ethical problems in medicine and biomedical and behavioral research. October 1982. (For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.)

    Google Scholar 

  14. C. L. Comar “Risk: a pragmatic de minimis approach,” Science 203, 1979, 319.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. J C. Ransom, “Old man playing with children,” in O. Williams, and E. Honig, eds., The Mentor Book of Major American Poets, New York: Mentor, 1962, 397.

    Google Scholar 

  16. V. Herbert, “Informed consent—a legal evaluation,” Cancer 46, 1980, 1042 1044.

    Google Scholar 

  17. L. J. Miller, “Informed consent: III,” Journal of the American Medical Association 244, 1980, 2556–2558.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. G. R. Morrow, “How readable are subject consent forms?” Journal of the American Medical Association 244, 1980, 56–58.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. B R. Cassileth, R. V. Zupkis, K. Sutton-Smith, and V. March, “Informed consent—why are its goals imperfectly realized?” New England Journal of Medicine 302, 1980, 896–900.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. T. M. Grundner, “On the readability of surgical consent forms,” New England Journal of Medicine 302, 1980, 900–902.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. D. Rennie, “Informed consent by ”well-nigh abject“ adults,” New England Journal of Medicine 302, 1980, 917–918.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. C. Epstein, and L. Lasagna, “Obtaining informed consent,” Archives of Internal Medicine 123, 1969, 682–688.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. H. A. Taub, “Informed consent, memory and age.” Gerontologist 20, 1980, 686–690.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. B. H. Gray, R. A. Cooke, and A. S. Tannenbaum, “Research involving human subjects,” Science 201, 1978, 1094–1101.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. T. M. Grundner, “Two formulas for determining the readability of subject consent forms,” American Psychologist 33, 1978, 773–775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. T. R. Barrett, and M. Wright, “Age-related facilitation in recall following semantic processing,” Journal of Gerontology 36, 1981, 194–199.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. S. Gadow, “Medicine, ethics, and the elderly,” Gerontologist 20, 1980, 680–685.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. R. Miller, and H. S. Willner, “The two-part consent form” New England Journal of Medicine 290, 1974, 964–966.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. R. L. Williams, K. H. Reickmann, G. M. Trenholme, et al., “The use of a test to determine that consent is informed,” Military Medicine 142, 1977, 542–545.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. G. Morrow, J. Gootnick, and A. Schmale, “A simple technique for increasing cancer patients’ knowledge of informed consent to treatment,” Cancer 42, 1978, 793–799.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. A. L. Schultz, G. P. Pardee, and J. W. Ensinck, “Are research subjects really informed?” Western Journal of Medicine 123, 1975, 76–80.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. G. Robinson, and A. Merav, “Informed consent: recall by patients tested postoperatively,” Annals of Thoracic Surgery 22, 1976, 209–212.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. J. D. Sands, and J. Parker, A cross-sectional study of the perceived stressfulness of several life events, International Journal of Aging & Human Development 10, 1979–1980, 335–341.

    Google Scholar 

  34. J. Botwinick, Aging and Behavior, New York: Springer, 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  35. A. Meisel, “Consent forms,” Journal of the American Medical Association 245, 1981, 921–922.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. A. Buchanan, “Medical paternalism,” Philosophy & Public Affairs 7, 1978, 369–390.

    Google Scholar 

  37. J. S. Mill, On Liberty,Chicago: Gateway Editions Inc (distributed by Henry Regnery Co):131. (Originally published in 1859.)

    Google Scholar 

  38. K. A. Lebacqz, “Ethical issues in psychopharmacologic research,” in D. M. Gallant, and R. Force, eds. Legal and Ethical Issues in Human Research and Treatment, New York: Spectrum Publications (distributed by Halsted Press Division of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ) 1978, 113–142.

    Google Scholar 

  39. A. Meisel, L. H. Roth, and C. W. Lidz, “Toward a model of the legal doctrine of informed consent,” American Journal of Psychiatry 134, 1977, 285–289.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. T. R. Anders, J. L. Fozard, “Effects of age upon retrieval from primary and secondary memory,” Developmental Psychology 9, 1973, 411–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. N. W. Denney, “Adult cognitive development,” in D. S. Beasley, and G. A. Davis, eds., Aging: Communication Processes and Disorders, New York: Grune & Stratton, 1981, 123–137.

    Google Scholar 

  42. H. A. Taub “Memory span, practice, and aging,” Journal of Gerontology 28, 1973, 335–338.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. D. F. Hultsch, “Learning to learn in adulthood,” Journal of Gerontology 29, 1974, 302–308.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. R. M. Moore, Jr., “Consent forms—how, or whether, they should be used,” Mayo Clinic Proceedings 53, 1978, 393–396.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. H. R. Butt, “A method for better physician-patient communication,” Annals of Internal Medicine 86, 1977, 478–480.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. G. L. Barbour, and M. J. Blumenkrantz, “Videotape aids informed consent decision,” Journal of the American Medical Association 240, 1978, 2741–2742.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. W. E. Woodward, “Informed consent of volunteers: a direct measurement of comprehension and retention of information,” Clinical Research 27, 1979, 248–252.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. J. M. Vaccarino, “Consent, informed consent and the consent form,” New England Journal of Medicine 298, 1978, 455.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Richard M. Ratzan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and the Center of Applied Research and Urban Policy, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, USA

    Vijaya L. Melnick

  2. Department of Social Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA

    Nancy Neveloff Dubler

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1985 The Humana Press, Inc.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ratzan, R.M. (1985). Technical Aspects of Obtaining Informed Consent from Persons with Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer’s Type. In: Melnick, V.L., Dubler, N.N. (eds) Alzheimer’s Dementia. Contemporary Issues in Biomedicine, Ethics, and Society. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5174-3_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5174-3_11

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9597-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-5174-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation