This volume gives an overview on the currently debated ethical issues regarding advance directives from an international perspective. It focuses on a wider understanding of the known and widely accepted concept of patient self-determination for future situations. Although advance directives have been widely discussed since the 1980s, the ethical bases of advance directives still remain a matter of heated debates. The book aims to contribute to these controversial debates by integrating fundamental ethical issues on advance directives with practical matters of their implementation. Cultural, national and professional differences in how advance directives are understood by health care professions and by patients, as well as in laws and regulations, are pinpointed.

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Springer Verlag GmbH
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Jacqueline M. Atkinson, PhD, CPsychol, is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Public Health at the University of Glasgow (UK). Formerly Professor of Mental Health Policy and Chair of the University of Glasgow Research Ethics Committee. Served as an adviser to the Scottish Parliament for the passage of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act through Parliament. Current research interests: mental health law, advance directives in mental health, mental health policy. Mark P. Aulisio, PhD, is Professor of Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University and Director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics, MetroHealth System, Cleveland, Ohio (US). Degree in applied philosophy. Helped to lead three American Society for Bioethics and Humanities projects in the field of ethics consultation training and education and received the ASBH Distinguished Service Award (2009). Current research interests: clinical ethics policy and practice, intersection of bioethics and political philosophy. Sohaila Bastami, Dr med., is a PhD student at the Institute of Biomedical Ethics, University of Zurich (Switzerland). Degree in medicine. Former Fellow at the Division of Medical Ethics, Harvard Medical School (2011-2012). Current research interests: clinical ethics (especially transplantation ethics), research ethics and the interface of evidence-based medicine and ethics. Nikola Biller-Andorno, Professor Dr med. Dr phil., is the Director of the Institute of Biomedical Ethics, University of Zurich (Switzerland). Degrees in medicine and philosophy. Past President of the International Association of Bioethics and member of the Central Ethics Committee of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences. Harkness/Careum Fellow and Visiting Professor at Harvard University (2012-2013). Current research interests: interface of ethics, economics, health policy and healthcare practice. Susanne Brauer, PhD, is Director of Studies for bioethics, medicine and life sciences at the Paulus-Akademie Zurich (Switzerland). Degree in philosophy and German literature and linguistics. Affiliated Research Fellow at the Institute of Biomedical Ethics, University of Zurich. Scientific collaborator of the Swiss National Advisory Commission on Biomedical Ethics (2008-2012). Current research interests: medical humanities, intersections between politics, healthcare and life sciences. Bernice Elger, Professor Dr med., MA theol., is Director of the Institute of Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel (Switzerland). Member of the Expert Commission for Human Genetic Testing (GUMEK) and the Federal Commission on Basic Health Care Services and Fundamental Principles (ELGK). Current research interests: ethical issues relating to cutting-edge biotechnology, biobanking and prison medicine. Ruth Horn, PhD, is an Ethics and Society Wellcome Trust Fellow at the Ethox Centre, University of Oxford (UK). Degrees in sociology. Past Marie Curie Fellow (EC) at the Centre for Ethics in Medicine, University of Bristol (UK). Current research interests: sociology of ethics, end-of-life decision-making, advance directives, euthanasia, terminal sedation. Ralf J. Jox, MD, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics at the Institute of Ethics, History and Theory of Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Germany). Studied medicine at the University of Munich and Harvard Medical School, and philosophy and ethics at the Munich School of Philosophy, the University of Basel (Switzerland) and King's College London (UK). Caroline Miles Visiting Scholar at the Ethox Centre, University of Oxford (UK) in 2012. Current research interests: patient autonomy, treatment decision-making, advance care planning, neuroethics, vulnerable patients (especially dementia and disorders of consciousness) and clinical ethics consultation. Tanja Krones, PD, Dr med. Dipl. Soz.