Episode Summary
After Amy Bloom's husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, he decided he wanted to die on his own terms, which Amy depicted in her memoir "In Love." She's joined by moral and legal philosopher Dr. Joan McGregor to talk through the difficulties — emotional, legal and practical — of making autonomous decisions about end-of-life care.
Episode Notes
We talked with:
- Amy Bloom is the author of four novels: "White Houses," "Lucky Us," "Away," and "Love Invents Us"; and three collections of short stories: "Where the God Of Love Hangs Out," "Come to Me" (a finalist for the National Book Award), and "A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You" (a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award). She is the director of the Shapiro Center at Wesleyan University. Her most recent book is the widely acclaimed New York Times bestselling memoir, "In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss."
- Joan McGregor, Ph.D., is a professor of philosophy at Arizona State University where she researches questions in moral and legal philosophy. She researches bioethics and sustainability — and has published more than 50 academic articles and book chapters, several of which focused on end-of-life care.
We talked about:
In this episode, Dr. Millstine and her guests discuss:
- The trickiness of dementia diagnosis. Dementia is often realized in retrospect. At first, it's easy to excuse symptomatic behavior as a personality quirk or fatigue. And the person themselves may not fully recognize that their abilities and capabilities are changing. Dementia also looks different person-to-person — affecting executive function, memory and personality to various degrees.
- The fight for medical autonomy. The rights for medical autonomy have increased. You can refuse care and you can create directions for medical professionals to follow if you become unable to make those decisions for yourself. But those advanced directives aren't always taken seriously, and even states that allow physician-assisted death come with many conditions.
- Facing the end. Our guests emphasize how important it is to have discussions with your loved ones about what you and they want for end-of-life care — regardless of your age or health status.
Can't get enough?
Got feedback?
- If you've got ideas or book suggestions, email us at readtalkgrow@mayo.edu.
- We invite you to complete the following survey as part of a research study at Mayo Clinic. Your responses are anonymous. Your participation in this survey as well as its completion are voluntary.