Life and Death Decisions: Psychological and Ethical Considerations in End-of-life Care

This work offers mental health practitioners information about the choices that people must make regarding how they will die, or how they will resist dying, and about the ethical issues involved in making those choices. It presents the major moral, value-based, and ethical principles that guide end-of-life decision-making, including autonomy, beneficence, mercy, and justice. It also reviews the elements of informed consent, competence, and other issues that guide the American legal system's stance on this controversial debate. It articulates the role and functions that mental health practitioners, particularly psychologists, can fulfil as members of end-of-life interdisciplinary teams to help individuals interact more fully with their loved ones and make decisions on a path toward increasing the probability of death with dignity.