Question

Ethical dilemma around Health care proxy.

Daughter is HCP of grandma and decides mom cannot see grandma because she is HCP, but mom would always see grandma when hcp was not invoked.

Answer 1

A health care proxy (HCP) is a person authorized to make medical decisions on behalf of a patient who is incapable to speak or make decisions for herself. The authorization is done with the help of a legal document (HCP) that designates the person. In this case, the granddaughter is the HCP and she decides against her mother visiting her grandmother. The mother doesn't have the HCP's permission to visit, but since the mother is a first-degree relative of the grandmother, she has the ethical right to see her mother, and she visits the patient whenever HCP is not invoked. Here the ethical dilemma can be solved by someone who is capable of making the grandaughter understand the significance of the mother-daughter relationship and the impact each visit could have on her grandmother's health and mother's wellbeing. Though she is the HCP, she can't deny her mother's right to see her grandmother. However, as the grandmother's HCP, she can make medical decisions on her behalf.