Decisionmaking at the end of life: patients with Alzheimer's and other dementias

Patients with dementia present difficult issues for health-care decisionmaking. This article addresses the moral and legal issues posed by end of life decisionmaking for such patients. In general, the ethical goals of care are to assure that patients' choices are respected and that patients' best interests are protected. These goals may not always recommend the same decisions about care, however, and there is controversy about how they should be balanced when they conflict. In addition, the law may not always further these goals, nor be as helpful as it could be in resolving conflicts between them.