Introduction:

Informed consent is an essential communicative process aimed at preserving and promoting the moral autonomy of the people in the social-sanitary level. A full knowledge of this process is indispensable for healthcare professionals involved in making decisions in both the healthcare and research areas in order to achieve a good quality care.

Objective:

To establish the importance of informed consent in the palliative care for people suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Material and Methods:

A literature review was carried out through the search in databases such as PubMed, Cochrane and LILACS, using keywords such as "informed consent", "informed consent and palliative care", "informed consent and human rights”, and "informed consent and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis".

Results:

The practice of the informed consent within the framework of the doctor-patient relationship is an expression of solidarity, respect and humanism, an inviolable human right, and a professional responsibility. Informed consent in the palliative treatments merits a more sensible thinking that allows professionals to make an adequate use of this process to guarantee a high quality healthcare.

Conclusions:

Informed consent is of great importance because it provides joint decision-making, which should be autonomous, competent, reasonable, and morally valid, representing an expression of solidarity, respect, humanism, inviolable human right, and professional responsibility.

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