ERIC Number: EJ720171
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 13
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0714-9808
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Available Date: N/A
To Tell or Not to Tell? Professional and Lay Perspectives on the Disclosure of Personal Health Information in Community-Based Dementia Care
Tracy, C. Shawn; Drumond, Neil; Ferris, Lorraine E.; Globerman, Judith; Hebert, Philip Charles; Pringle, Dorothy; Cohen, Carole A.
Canadian Journal on Aging, v23 n3 p203-215 Fall 2004
Developments in information technology and the ongoing restructuring of health services to increase provision in community settings militate in favour of a streamlining of communications and the exchange of information about patients among health and social care providers. Yet the principles of confidentiality and privacy appear to inhibit this process. In order to explore the practical, ethical, and legal imperatives attendant upon personal health information exchange, we conducted a series of interviews with professional care providers, persons with early-stage dementia, and their family caregivers. The findings indicate some degree of discordance. Professionals reported valuing disclosure both to colleagues and family caregivers on the basis of its being in the patients' best interests. Patients also valued interprofessional exchange, but sought strong control over disclosure to family members. Family caregivers valued being kept informed of the patient's condition, even without the latter's consent. Implications for research and policy are discussed.
Descriptors: Dementia, Patients, Disclosure, Community Health Services, Confidentiality, Caregivers, Older Adults, Privacy, Ethics, Family Attitudes, Caregiver Attitudes, Attitude Measures
University of Toronto Press, 5201 Dufferin Street, North York, Ontario M3H 5T8 Canada. Tel: 416-667-7838; Fax: 416-667-7881.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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