Consentimento informado na pessoa com problemas ligados ao álcool
: um estudo sobre coerção, perturbação emocional e atitudes éticas do terapeuta

  • João Paulo Barbosa Azevedo (Student)

Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis

Abstract

Informed Consent, as a central theme of ethics, is based on respect for human dignity and the affirmation of autonomy as a primordial ethical value, involving the patient, in their characteristics and conditions, and the health professional, in their responsibility to care and avoid undue paternalism. In the therapeutic approach to Alcohol-Related Problems, the ethical-legal requirement of Informed Consent is particularly challenging. Clinical evidence and research indicate that people with Alcohol-Related Problems often refuse and abandon treatment early. Non-adherence to treatment constrains the well-being and quality of life of the person and of the society and constitutes a major concern for professionals. It is argued that Informed Consent, as a place for an ethical process of patient empowerment, is a way to stimulate therapeutic adherence. Aiming to analyse the relationship between Informed Consent when interfered with coercion, anxiety or depression and therapeutic adherence, a study consisting of two lines of investigation was carried out: I) A prospective, quantitative, descriptive and analytical, longitudinal study of a sample of 150 people with Alcohol-Related Problems who attended treatment at an alcohol abuse/dependence treatment unit, using the following instruments: Perception of Coercion Scale, Expression of Coercion in Assistance Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Expression of Autonomy Scale; II) Cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive and analytical study of a sample of 85 health professionals in the Addictive Behaviours and Addictions field, using a questionnaire on ethical attitudes in Informed Consent interfered due to coercion, anxiety and depression. The results indicate that Informed Consent of the person who attends treatment suffering from coercion, anxiety, or depression is related to non-therapeutic adherence and the use of paternalism. The results suggest the importance of reinforcing ethical reflection on the subject of coercion, its meanings and implications for the therapeutic relationship and treatment. An informative leaflet on Informed Consent was created as a contribution to the humanization of public health care in terms of Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies. Its aim is to stimulate therapeutic adherence, guided by the recognition and appreciation of personal autonomy and the avoidance of paternalism.
Date of Award23 Oct 2023
Original languagePortuguese
Awarding Institution
  • Universidade Católica Portuguesa
SupervisorAntónio Bartolomeu Jácomo Ferreira (Supervisor) & Sónia Soraia Dias Azenha (Co-Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Informed consent
  • Alcohol-related problems
  • Therapeutic adherence
  • Coercion
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Bioethics

Designation

  • Doutoramento em Bioética

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