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Ambiguity and Hope: Disclosure Preferences of Less Acculturated Elderly Mexican Americans Concerning Terminal Cancer—A Case Story

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2002

GELYA FRANK
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and the Department of Anthropology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles
LESLIE J. BLACKHALL
Affiliation:
Center for Palliative Medicine and the Bioethics Center, University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville
SHEILA T. MURPHY
Affiliation:
Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles
VICKI MICHEL
Affiliation:
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, California
STANLEY P. AZEN
Affiliation:
Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles
HAYDEE MABEL PRELORAN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles
CAROLE H. BROWNER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles

Extract

A major shift has taken place since the 1960s concerning disclosure to patients that they have a diagnosis of cancer and that their disease is considered terminal. Full disclosure is now considered the patient's right in the United States. However, there remain many countries in which nondisclosure is still the norm. When patients from those countries are diagnosed with cancer in America, differences in attitudes and expectations can cause conflict and misunderstanding.

Type
SPECIAL SECTION: MEANINGS AND CONTEXTS: ANTHROPOLICAL PERSPECTIVES IN BIOETHICS
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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