Guiding the Hand That Feeds
- 9 August 1984
- journal article
- Published by Massachusetts Medical Society in New England Journal of Medicine
- Vol. 311 (6) , 402-404
- https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm198408093110611
Abstract
The phone message from the patient's daughter is ominous. "Mrs. F. has eaten nothing all weekend. What should we do?" A 70-year-old woman with severe dementia, Mrs. F. rarely speaks, is confined to a wheelchair, and requires diapers because of incontinence. She has been kept out of a nursing home by the efforts of a devoted family and daily attendance at a geriatric day-care center. During the past year, her social interactions have decreased, and her food intake has become increasingly erratic. First, she stopped feeding herself; now, even though she is fed by hand, her intake continues to decline. . . .Keywords
This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Physician's Responsibility toward Hopelessly Ill PatientsNew England Journal of Medicine, 1984
- On Feeding the DyingHastings Center Report, 1983
- Must Patients Always Be Given Food and Water?Hastings Center Report, 1983
- Clinical Decisions to Limit TreatmentAnnals of Internal Medicine, 1980
- Ethical conflicts in long-term care of the aged: nutritional problems and the patient-care worker relationship.BMJ, 1980