Introduction:

Dementias constitute a group of diseases that notoriously affect people who suffer from them, especially in terms of their independence and decision-making, leading the caregiver to assume or make various decisions about the patient. However, in the past this was explained by the fact that there was a theoretical and narrative insufficiency around patients with dementia, which led us to ignore that they still conserved their decision-making capacity as well as their autonomy.

Objective:

This text proposes to defend the existence of autonomy in these patients and a way about how we can take care of it and preserve it in the medical field, through an ethical position based on the care and recognition of vulnerability.

Methodology:

An approach focused on the ethics of care and vulnerability by Ronald Dworkin, Emmanuel Levinas and Corine Pelluchon focused on the person with dementia. I introduced a scale that allows assessing autonomy and decision-making in people with dementia.

Results and discussion:

To guarantee the dignity of the person with dementia, it is necessary to understand how they are autonomous, in terms of self-governance and seeking to reduce asymmetries in relationships. In addition, always include caregivers and family members in decision-making.

Conclusions:

People with dementia are autonomous in an individual or personal sense and deserve respect. Although they are in a state of vulnerability, there are different mechanisms focused on their care.

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