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Children's Competence to Consent to Medical Treatment
Author(s) -
Alderson Priscilla,
Sutcliffe Katy,
Curtis Katherine
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
hastings center report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-146X
pISSN - 0093-0334
DOI - 10.1353/hcr.2006.0000
Subject(s) - bioethics , ignorance , psychology , informed consent , conscience , competence (human resources) , health care , social psychology , developmental psychology , medicine , alternative medicine , law , political science , pathology
As a study involving diabetes care demonstrates, children sometimes have a much more sophisticated capacity for taking charge of their own health care decisions than is usually recognized in bioethics. Protecting these children from their disease means involving them in their treatment as much as possible, helping them to understand it and take responsibility for it so that they can navigate the multitude of daily decisions that become part of the diabetes medical regimen.