PURPOSE This study investigated patients' perceptions and expectations of their families' participation in the informed consent process of elective surgery. METHODS This is a survey study. Anonymous questionnaires that were mailed to potential participants included a demographic data sheet and a scale, measuring patients' perceptions of themselves and their families' participation level in th...

We evaluated the contents and characteristics of informed consent obtained by the primary care physician from a male patient with advanced cancer and his family, and clarified the influences of the informed consent on family function. This patient was diagnosed as having advanced cancer at the age of 46 years, underwent surgery/chemotherapy, but died after 4 months at the hospital. Semi-structu...

TO THE EDITOR: Knowledge of the deceased's wishes and the processes involved in requesting organ donation increases the likelihood of family consenting to donation. 1 Australian research has found that many people who register consent for organ donation do not discuss it with family members. 2 Others discuss their intentions with their family but choose not to register. Since the Australian Org...

Children's consent to treatment remains a contentious topic, with confusing legal precepts and advice. This paper proposes that informed consent in children should be regarded as shared between children and their families, the balance being determined by implicit, developmentally based negotiations between child and parent--a "family rule" for consent. Consistent, operationalized procedures for...

The consent process for organ and tissue donation is complex, both for families and professionals. To help professionals in broaching this subject we performed a multicenter study. We compared family consent to donation in three hospitals between December 2007 and December 2009. In the intervention hospital, trained donation practitioners (TDP) guided 66 families throughout the time in the ICU ...