BHH Seminar Series: "Grief and Decision-Making Capacity"

The Department of Bioethics and Health Humanities and The Samuel G. Dunn Lectureship in the Medical Humanities 

Proudly Presents:

"Grief and Decision-Making Capacity"

by Dr. Xiang Yu
Clinical Ethicist
Fellow Alden March Bioethics Institute Albany Medical College 

Tuesday, June 18, 2024
9-10 AM
HEC 3.201

Abstract: 
General consensus holds that providers should wait to assess the decision-making capacity of patients in the throes of grief. The justification for waiting is typically that such patients may lack sufficient capacity to make treatment decisions for themselves—at least for a short period of time—as a result of intense grief. However, the reason such patients may lack capacity remains contested. In this paper, we offer a novel explanation. We consider three accounts for how the patient's grief could undermine her capacity: the patient is unable to appreciate the relevant medical information; the patient has a mental disorder that leads her to make an irrational decision; the value underlying the patient’s decision is pathological. We show how each of these accounts is unsatisfactory and propose an alternative, which we call the Value-Fulfillment Account. On our proposed account, grief undermines capacity when a patient’s decision fails to fulfill her deeply held values. 

Contact:     Email: Kathryne Dunn     

For: The School of Public and Population Health     Phone: 409-772-1128