There isn't a framework. One of the things the article talks about is that the assisted death law in Canada requires competency at the time of death. Without looking, I expect it's often similar in other places.
When my mom's dementia progressed from a state where she needed a bit of help to where she needed regular attention, I had no qualms about removing myself from the equation, because I think that if she were healthy she would want me to live my life for myself. If that sounds right to you, it's something you can tell your family.
I believe the competency at time of death requirement is being changed due to the existing limitations being ruled unconstitutional.
Per [0],
"This Bill would amend the Criminal Code to allow MAID for eligible persons who wish to pursue a medically assisted death, whether their natural death is reasonably foreseeable or not. The proposed changes will reduce unnecessary suffering in Canada. They will also support greater autonomy and freedom of choice for eligible persons, and provide safeguards to protect those who may be vulnerable."
Alzheimer’s is a neurological disease with a well-documented physiological pathology and terminal prognosis. Mental illnesses generally lack both of those things. The ethics of assisted suicide for terminal patients are distinct, I think, and it’s understandable than terminal patients were the first to have this right recognized under law.
Leaving someone with advanced Alzheimer’s in professional care full time is not abandonment. Fiction rarely shows how long it can go on with virtually no memories left and no ability to care for oneself for even a couple hours. (The fictional danger is often shows as the person forgetting where they live and walking off - the real danger is that they will shit themselves, not tell anyone, and get painful skin issues.)
That’s before you get into the emotional side. How many times a year do you think you could meet your mother and have her not know you from a stranger? No, seeing her every day doesn’t help either - it actually makes it worse for both of you.
Alzheimer’s can be such a slow death you’ve already grieved through “acceptance” while your loved one is still, medically speaking, ‘alive.’
The last part about grieving through loss while the person is still alive is very apt. When my mom passed after brain cancer took her memories, she survived for so long with no idea who or where she was that her body dying was a relief and the grieving had mostly occurred a year before.
Well, I’ll never finish grieving that loss I guess. I realize all the time that there’s more to grieve. But the shock was certainly not there. The sense of loss wasn’t. That was difficult in itself; to tell people she passed away and not be as sad as people expected. I felt like something must be wrong with me at the time. In retrospect, she had just died much sooner than her body did.
It’s an especially strange human experience I think.
When my mom's dementia progressed from a state where she needed a bit of help to where she needed regular attention, I had no qualms about removing myself from the equation, because I think that if she were healthy she would want me to live my life for myself. If that sounds right to you, it's something you can tell your family.