What They Don't Say: Nonverbal Patient Behavior and its Role in Medical Decision Making
Presenter: Ralf J. Jox, M.D., PhD Recorded: October 17, 2017 Series: Curtis R. Holzgang, M.D., MACP Visiting Scholar Patients who lack decision-making capacity may display non-verbal behavior such as refusing eating or nursing care that can complicate the medical decision making process by the treating teams and surrogate decision makers. Such behavior is not only difficult to interpret, but also difficult to reconcile with standard ethical and legal criteria or directions contained in advance care planning. This presentation will summarize existing empirical evidence and discuss possible ethical approaches to this problem.
