ethical issues

Jerry is a professional in the field of gerontology. Alice, the mother of Jerry’s best friend Luke, has Alzheimer’s. Luke’s father is the primary caregiver. Luke has expressed some concern that he believes his father is minimizing the severity of his mother’s condition and he can see the caregiving is taking a toll on his father who has refused any kind of assistance in caring for his wife.

 

Luke is at his wits end and asks Jerry to stop in to see his parents and try to talk some sense into his father to accept some type of help. Jerry stops over on his way home from work one day to find Luke’s mother tied to a chair while his father is making dinner. His father is embarrassed that Jerry has seen this but explains that it’s the only way he can keep her in one place and safe while he is making dinner and he asks that Jerry not share his findings with Luke.

 

WWJD – What would Jerry do? What are the ethical issue(s) in this scenario and what can Jerry do to address them?