The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Qual Health Res. 2010 Mar;20(3):409-19. doi: 10.1177/1049732309359171.
in this study we examined the ethical aspects of the use of the Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to track people with dementia. The findings are based on qualitative data gathered from focus groups of family and professional caregivers. The most important theme was the need to balance patients' need for safety with the need to preserve their autonomy and privacy. The main potential benefit of the use of GPS was related to the peace of mind of the caregivers themselves. The findings also suggest that caregivers' views change according to the locus of responsibility of the caregivers for the safety of people with dementia. The caregivers give preference to patients' safety more than autonomy when they are responsible for the patients. When the patients are under the responsibility of other caregivers, they give preference to patients' autonomy more than their safety. Overall, the variety and the depth of the views of different stakeholders toward the use of electronic tracking for people with dementia presented in this article provide a meaningful contribution to the ethical debate on this topic.
在这项研究中，我们研究了使用全球定位系统（GPS）来跟踪痴呆症患者的伦理问题。研究结果基于从家庭和专业护理人员焦点小组收集的定性数据。最重要的主题是需要平衡患者的安全需求与保护他们的自主权和隐私的需求。使用 GPS 的主要潜在好处与护理人员自身的安心有关。研究结果还表明，根据痴呆症患者安全责任的护理人员的位置，护理人员的观点会发生变化。当他们对患者负责时，护理人员更重视患者的安全而不是自主权。当患者由其他护理人员负责时，他们更重视患者的自主权而不是他们的安全。总的来说，本文中不同利益相关者对使用电子追踪技术来追踪痴呆症患者的看法的多样性和深度，为这一主题的伦理辩论提供了有意义的贡献。
