Making Decisions in the Midst of Alzheimer’s Disease
Presenter:
Emily Largent, PhD, RN
Division Chief, Medical Ethics, Perelman School of Medicine
Emanuel and Robert Hart Chair of Medical Ethics, Perelman School of Medicine
Lecturer, Carey Law School
Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progressively erodes affected individuals’ decisional capacity. At the same time, people living with dementia (PLWD) caused by AD confront numerous decisions that affect their wellbeing and the wellbeing of their family members. Research demonstrates the importance of family involvement in decision making, yet there is limited knowledge of how PLWD and their families work together to make decisions or of how the approaches to decision making change as AD progresses. This talk will include a presentation of data from a qualitative study of patient-caregiver dyads that focused on decision making, and it will address the normative implications of these findings.
Emily A. Largent, PhD, RN is the Division Chief of Medical Ethics and the Emanuel and Robert Hart Chair of Medical Ethics at the Perelman School of Medicine. She is also an Associate Professor of Medical Ethics. She holds a secondary appointment at Penn Law and is affiliated with the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE).
Dr. Largent’s work explores ethical and regulatory aspects of human subjects research and the social, legal, ethical, and clinical implications of our changing understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. It is supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Largent is a Greenwall Faculty Scholar. She was the 2023 recipient of the Baruch A. Brody Award & Lecture in Bioethics and is an elected fellow of the Hastings Center. Her work has been published in leading bioethics and biomedical journals. She co-authored Clinical Research Ethics Consultation: A Casebook (Oxford University Press).
Dr. Largent earned a BSFS in Science, Technology, and International Affairs from Georgetown University and a BSN from Penn Nursing. She received her PhD in Health Policy, with a concentration in ethics, from Harvard University and her JD from Harvard Law School. Dr. Largent was previously a fellow in the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health and clerked for Chief Judge Jeffrey Howard of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
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