Final Project Proposal

In my final project, I aim to explore the connection between health and disability. Health and disability are often linked due to the fact that disease can often result in disability. I will begin my proposal by exploring how this association impacts medical decision making in the context of informed consent and physician-assisted suicide. In both scenarios, there is evidence that societal beliefs in regards to disability often negatively impact the way people view disability or individuals with disability. For example, people often view a disabled life as a life that is not worth living. Thus, when individuals are faced with a decision regarding living with disability, people often opt to eliminate disability due to this preconceived notion. 

In cases of informed consent and physician-assisted suicide, disabled patients may feel pressured by medical professionals, who may hold negative attitudes towards disabled individuals, to make decisions that eliminate their autonomy. It is hard to pinpoint what healthcare decision making model should be put in place, and it is hard to implement legislation regarding healthcare decision making without putting patient autonomy at risk. In regards to the decision making model, it is important to provide the disabled individual with a surrogate to act in the patient's best interest as well as give the patient different means of communicating their wishes regarding their healthcare. 

Encouraging a switch from the medical to social model of disability may help alleviate the societal stigma held against this patient population in medical settings. Currently, society favors the medical model, so people often make the assumption that disability like disease can be cured or prevented. By switching to favoring the social model, society may begin to understand that the issues faced by disabled individuals results from issues of access in the environment rather than from the body itself. This shift in understanding may lead to a shift that favors accomodating disability by creating a more accessible environment rather than trying to medically eliminate disability.