Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Principles of Ethics and Self-Determination ‘Me Before You’
“Me Before You” looks at two issues a love story and the debate of the right-to-die, which is combined to give an excellent storyline (Moyes, 2012). Will Traynor is a young quadriplegic man who met an accident two years before and is lucky to have an assistant like Louisa Clark, a 26-year-old girl. Louisa is also Traynor’s caregiver and companion although it is challenging because Will is cynical and seems to have given up hope to live. The emotional support Louisa gives to Will Traynor has become more pressing because he is depressed by his health condition to the point of considering death as an option. Nonetheless, Louisa is more determined than ever to show Traynor that life is more worth living than he thought and a series of adventures changes both their lives (Moyes, 2012).
The case of Will Traynor would be treated quite differently if he were a minor because the law would have dictated what would go forth in his life. Therefore, I believe that the case would have taken a different angle altogether all for the betterment of Will’s recovery. Moreover, if a different diagnosis had been given like mental illness, Will would have been hospitalized immediately to necessitate being accorded the care needed by special caregivers. In such a situation, this would have resulted in him following the rules and regulations of the institution caring for him because it integrates the needs of people with mental illnesses.
Informed consent for minor individuals involves obtaining permission from parents and if the child is above seven years, ‘child assent’ becomes mandatory. Arguments raised are that children have the capability of being research partners in clinical trials. Therefore, they have a right to receive health information. Moreover, it incorporates their feelings and wishes because they have a right to be heard. In cases where children are judged to have the capability for giving consent, then that right should be displayed by the healthcare organization. Therefore, informed consent would apply to Will’s case if he showed competence when it comes to giving consent (Guido, 2014).
Self-determination has been viewed to be central to the values and ethics of social work and is generally viewed as being autonomous. The definition given to self-determination is that it involves individuals having the ability to plan their lives and eliminate, as well as implement all the ideas they have flaunted. This does not only apply to plans but also to their policies, desires, and wishes, which is a determinant of the course they are willing to take in their life. The principle of ethics looks at self-determination as a concept that builds on an individual’s self-respect and personality (Guido, 2014).
Principles of ethics have been viewed important as components of self-determination because it seeks to give respect to the autonomy of patients through ensuring that treatment provided to patients is geared towards attaining their end desires. Moreover, the informed consent will emphasize the fact that the patient adopts the selected treatment plan voluntarily. In such cases, informed consent has shifted the ethical paradigm from physician-centered models to patient-centered approaches especially when it comes to decision-making processes. Informed consent is a process that usually comes before the signing of documents and is relevant until the choice made by the patient expires. As such, the consent to continue with chemotherapy will continue being re-evaluated by the institution although it may change (Guido, 2014).
The essential aspects of self-determination include knowledge, instructional, and dispositional factors. This outweighed personal factors like age and intelligence level among others. Self-determination for conditions like people with disability is also viewed from the angle that the affected people can stand for themselves when issues such as personal characteristics, instructional experiences, and environmental factors are considered (Guido, 2014). Therefore, those with intellectual disabilities have external factors to thank because they have the opportunity to make choices that are valid for medical practitioners to use in their treatment.


References
Guido, G. (2014). Legal and ethical issues in nursing (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Moyes, J. (2012). Me before you. New York, NY: Pamela Dorman Books/Viking.