Title: Hide and Seek: Developing Technology for People with Dementia and Alzheimer’s
Author: Adrienne Carpenter
Description: Concerns arise about infringing upon patients’ autonomy when researchers wish to “electronically tag” Alzheimer’s patients to document the patients’ and caregivers’ experiences.
Keyword(s): psychiatric research, cognitively impaired persons, surrogate decision makers/legally authorized representation, decision-making capacity, voluntariness, questionable risk-benefit assessment, assent
Based On: (Astell, 2005)
Case: A geriatric psychiatrist, Dr. Brown, is interested in implementing certain technologies to aid patients who suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Specifically, he has developed a protocol in which patients would be electronically “tagged” through the use of technology similar to pet-tracking microchips but would be worn outside the body and be difficult to remove. This would allow caregivers to monitor their locations and easily find them should they wander. The study would document the experiences of both the patients and the caregivers through interviews administered at the start of the study and then periodically every six weeks. Critics of this method argue that the sue of technology in such a manner is demeaning and infringes upon patient autonomy.
- What concerns emerge since many patients would lack the capacity to give informed consent or might lose this capacity during the study? Is the infringement upon patients’ autonomy justified in this study?
- What are the relevant interests of potential participants with AD?
- Should such a study be permissible? Why or why not? If so, should there be any safeguards?
Source: Astell, A.J. (2005). Developing technology for people with dementia. Psychiatric Times, 22(13).