Join the 2015 IIT Ethics Bowl Team
Interested in bioethics issues?
Do you enjoy debate and discussion?
Thinking about pursuing a career in the field of healthcare or medicine?
Join the 2015 IIT Bioethics Bowl Team!
The IIT Ethics Bowl Club is putting together a team to compete in the National Bioethics Bowl Competition on April 10-11th in Tallahassee Florida as part of the National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference. Team members will have the chance to take part in the competition and attend the conference.
If you are interested, please send us an email at iitethicsbowl@iit.edu or attend our meetings in Galvin Library on Thursdays during lunch, 12:50-1:30.
Please let us know if you are interested in being part of the team as soon as possible, as the deadline for registering is January 31!
Example Case from 2014 Bioethics Bowl Competition: An Affair of the Demented
Mrs. O'Brien, 75 years old, is a widow of 10 years and is diagnosed as being mildly demented. Mr. Jackson, 73 years old, is a widower of 12 years and is mild-to-moderately demented. Both are residents of a nursing home. Mr. Jackson has been in the facility for 5 years; Mrs. O'Brien moved in just five months ago.
Shortly after her arrival, Mr. Jackson and Mrs. O'Brien struck up a friendship. That friendship soon progressed into a sexual relationship. Mr. Jackson frequently accompanies Mrs. O'Brien around the facility—to meals, to the day room, etc.--and frequently wants to spend the night with her. They relate to one another the way they related to their marriage partners, with Mr. Jackson taking the lead, guiding Mrs. O'Brien around, and “taking care” of her in ways that are somewhat overbearing. Mrs. O'Brien, however, accepts and even welcomes the attention and care, especially since her marriage followed the same pattern.
He is under the impression that she is his deceased wife. Mrs. O'Brien, however, recognizes that he is not her husband, but she nevertheless welcomes the relationship and gets somewhat agitated when staff removes Mr. Jackson from her room.
Mr. Jackson's two children are accepting, even pleased, with their father's newfound relationship.
Mrs. O'Brien's two children, however, are appalled and are complaining to the nursing home about how their mother is being abused and that the nursing home is not providing proper care. They are also upset that the staff is letting their mother engage in a relationship with Mr. Jackson that, in their opinion, she would never normally consent to. As they put it, “Our mother was always faithful to our father, and would never be with another man.” A couple of the staff members who provide care for Mrs. O'Brien are also opposed to the relationship. They complain that Mr. Jackson gets in their way, and that the mornings after he has spent the night, Mrs. O'Brien's dementia is exacerbated by the decreased sleep. On the other hand, some staff members find that the relationship has a positive effect on these residents, and that trying to keep them apart requires a Herculean effort that only results in agitation and upset.
Questions:
1. Should the staff actively try to keep Mrs. O’Brien and Mr. Jackson apart? Why or why not?
2. In nursing home situations, families of residents may not often have time to visit, or may not live close enough to visit regularly. Is it thus morally acceptable for family members to dictate the terms of their loved one’s relationships within the nursing home, if those family members are not active participants in their loved ones’ lives?
3. What ethical considerations should loom large in determining what to do in the case of this couple?
