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Refusal of treatment
Author(s) -
Parker Malcolm H,
Tobin Bernadette
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2001.tb143410.x
Subject(s) - unconscious mind , feeling , interpretation (philosophy) , variety (cybernetics) , health care , psychology , informed consent , process (computing) , medical treatment , medicine , nursing , social psychology , medical emergency , alternative medicine , computer science , political science , law , artificial intelligence , psychoanalysis , programming language , operating system , pathology
Patients' thoughts, feelings and desires are communicated in a variety of ways, and require sympathetic, critical interpretation. Patients need clear, evidence‐based medical information so that they can make their own decisions about whether to consent to or refuse medical treatment. Treatment refusal may provide an opportunity to introduce patients to advance care planning. Unconscious motivations in doctors may obstruct good clinical decision‐making. Although respect for the patient's responsibility to make healthcare decisions should be a condition of the clinical relationship, healthcare decision‐making is a collaborative process.