The Influence of the Family in Conceptions of Personhood in the Palliative Care Setting in Singapore and Its Influence Upon Decision Making

Abstract

Conceptions of personhood are critical to the preservation of dignity and quality of life key to a good death and pivotal to the provision of patient centred care. Increasingly there is speculation that this role may be wider still. It has been posited that it is Confucian inspired conceptions of personhood replete with its `dualistic' view of personhood that sees family members as part of the individual's personhood that predispose to the prevailing practices of collusion and the trumping of patient autonomy. In a nation where family centric decision making still dominates end of life decision making, the need to appropriately conceptualise local conceptions of personhood are clear. To this end a mixed methods study of 30 Singaporean oncology and palliative care patients was undertaken. Data accrued revealed local conceptions of personhood to be evolving ideas that are determined by four equally important closely related dimensions. Here Innate Personhood which represents the belief that all persons irrespective of their clinical condition and level of development are deserving of personhood, Individual Personhood which relates to consciousness related faculties, Relational Personhood which relates to the social and familial connections important to the person and Societal Personhood which relates to the roles played in society; combine to proffer the Ring Theory of Personhood. This concept provides a better means of providing for the specific needs of patients with life threatening illnesses whilst providing a unique insight into the role families play in the manner local patients conceive themselves to be.