Elämänelvityksiäkäsitteet

Elämänelvityksiäkäsitteet is a Finnish neologism used in discussions about decisions surrounding life-sustaining interventions at the end of life. The term denotes a family of concepts rather than a single definition and is found in medical ethics and health-law literature in Finland and in broader Nordic debates about end-of-life care.

The word is formed by combining elämän (life) with elvitys, a root related to clarification or elucidation, and käsitteet (concepts). It is typically written as a single compound, though hyphenations are possible in early stages of usage.

The elämänelvityksiäkäsitteet cluster includes notions such as prognosis, goals of care, patient autonomy and substituted decision-making, withholding or withdrawing resuscitation and other life-sustaining treatments, and the role of do-not-resuscitate orders, advance directives, and palliative care. These concepts guide how clinicians assess benefits and burdens, communicate with patients and families, and determine appropriate levels of intervention.

In practice, these concepts are invoked in clinical decision-making, ethics consultations, and health-policy discussions about when to initiate, continue, limit, or discontinue treatments that affect life expectancy or quality of life. Scholarly debate around the terms highlights tensions between respecting patient wishes, avoiding futile treatment, and balancing medical judgment with cultural and religious values. Critics warn against instrumenting language in ways that could obscure normative choices or lead to paternalism.

Related topics include end-of-life care, palliative care, advance directives, do-not-resuscitate decisions, and medical law.