We have located links that may give you full text access.
The Need for Uncertainty: A Case for Prognostic Silence.
Disclosure of prognosis in end-of-life care is a practice that is widely and increasingly recommended. However, prognostic disclosure is known to be resisted by many dying persons and by physicians, who instead engage in a "collusion of silence"-discussing prognosis either not at all or in vague, indirect terms. Debates about the ethics of prognostic disclosure and non-disclosure have tended to focus on their relative benefits and harms, or on the psychological acceptability of prognostic information to dying persons. Unaddressed, however, is a more fundamental assumption upon which the practice of prognostic disclosure depends: that prognostic certainty is what dying persons ultimately need. In this essay I question this assumption. Reflecting on the experience of my father's recent death, I argue that prognostic certainty is not only unattainable but existentially irrelevant to many dying persons, and that prognostic uncertainty can be a greater need. Respect for individuals' existential need for uncertainty justifies prognostic silence and enables dying persons-as well as the loved ones and clinicians who care for them-to be open to new possibilities of finding meaning at the end of life.
Full text links
Related Resources
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app
All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.
By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
Your Privacy Choices
You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app