Abstract
Issues revolving around the process of informed consent for research on elderly subjects are compounded for the physician dealing with institutionalized patients.1–10 The effects of institutionalization on a subject’s ability to give consent must be considered: the population of a nursing facility not only constitutes a representative community of subjects for research, but it also includes a large number of dementia patients, particularly those with moderate and severe dementias. Hence, the nursing home is a crucial element in geriatric research. Since research on senile dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (SDAT) must include the nursing home population, it is necessary to review the characteristics of the institutionalized elderly that make them psychologically and physically vulnerable to research.
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Notes and References
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Hoffman, P.B., Libow, L.S. (1985). The Need for Alternatives to Informed Consent by Older Patients. 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_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5174-3_12
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