Alzheimer's Disease, Media Representations and the Politics of Euthanasia: Constructing Risk and Selling Death in an Ageing Society

ISBN-13: 9781409451921 / Angielski / Twarda / 2013 / 246 str.

Megan-Jane Johnstone

Opis

Drawing on extensive data including news media reports and commentaries, documentaries, courts and court reports, films, websites, professional literature and government and non-government agencies, this book explores the 'Alzheimerisation' of the euthanasia debate, examining the shift in recent years in public attitudes towards the desirability and moral permissibility of euthanasia as an end-of-life 'solution' for people living with the disease - not just at its end stage, but also at earlier stages. With attention to media representations and public understandings of Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimer's Disease, Media Representations and the Politics of Euthanasia sheds light on the processes contributing to these changes in public opinion, investigating the drivers of vexed political debate surrounding the issue and examining the manner in which both sides of the euthanasia debate mobilise support, portray their opponents and make use of media technologies to frame the terms of discourse. Paving the way for a greater level of intellectual honesty with regard to an issue carrying significant policy implications, this book will be of interest to scholars of media and communication, social movements and political communication, and the sociology of health and medicine, as well as researchers and professionals in the fields of palliative and end of life care.

Spis treści

Chapter 1 The Alzheimerization of the Euthanasia Debate; Chapter 2 The Incidence and Impact of Alzheimer’s Disease; Chapter 3 Media Representations, Metaphors, and the Stigmatization of Alzheimer’s Disease; Chapter 4 Curbing Demand for Acute Healthcare Services; Chapter 5 The Euthanasia Option; Chapter 6 Mobilizing Political Support for the Legalization of Euthanasia; Chapter 7 Propaganda, 'Dirty Tricks' Fallacies, and Opposing Points-of-view; Chapter 8 Selling Death; Chapter 9 Alzheimer’s Disease and Euthanasia as a Symbolic System of Control; Chapter 10 Euthanasia Politics and Public Opinion;

O autorze

Megan-Jane Johnstone is Professor of Nursing and Director of the Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research at Deakin University, Australia. She is author of Bioethics: A Nursing Perspective, Nursing and the Injustices of the Law, and co-author of Ethics in Nursing Practice.