From Individual Autonomy to Relational Responsibility: Ethical Foundations of Surrogate Decision-Making

Includes a Live Web Event on 04/29/2026 at 10:30 AM (EDT)

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    • Individual - $45
    • Carmelite Home staff - $45
    • Sisters Aging Well Together - $45
    • AIG Staff - Free!
    • AIG Faculty - Free!

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Overview:

This presentation examines the conceptual foundations and clinical implications of patient autonomy in situations where individuals lack decisional capacity. It critically analyzes the evolution of autonomy from an individualistic, rights-based construct to a more contextually embedded, relational understanding. Particular attention is given to the ethical role of the surrogate decision-maker: the moral standards that should guide surrogate judgment (substituted judgment, best interests), and the question of who constitutes the most appropriate surrogate, not merely in legal terms, but in light of knowledge of the patient’s values, narrative identity, and lived commitments. The session further distinguishes ethical authority from legal designation, exploring areas of convergence and tension between statutory hierarchies and moral legitimacy. Finally, it argues that surrogate decision-making is best understood within a framework of relational ethics, where autonomy is not exercised in isolation but is shaped, supported, and interpreted within networks of care, trust, and responsibility.

As a result of this presentation the participant will be able to:

1. Identify a framework of relational ethics.

2. Distinguish ethical authority from legal designation.

3. Apply an ethical role as a surrogate decision-maker.

Credit Information:

Administrators (NAB)

This program has been approved for Continuing Education for 1.0 total participant hours by NAB/NCERS—Approval #20270428-1-A120916-DL.

Domains of Practice:

- 1B7 Care Recipient Decision-Making

- 2B3 Ethical Conduct and Standards of Practice

Chaplains (NACC)

This educational program has been submitted to the National Association of Catholic Chaplains for approval to grant Continuing Education Hours. Please contact Michelle DuFresne at 518-537-5000 for further information.

Social Workers (New York Only) 

Avila Institute of Gerontology, Inc. is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0265. Participants can earn 1.0 Contact Hours.

Social Worker CE approval is for New York State Social workers only. Other state licensees are not eligible to receive pre-approved credit.

Claudia Ruiz Sotomayor, MD, DBe, HEC-C

Chief, Ethics Consultation Service, and Clinical Ethicist, Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics. Associate Professor.

Georgetown University Medical Center.

Dr. Claudia R. Sotomayor serves as the Chief of the Clinical Ethics Consultation Service at the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics and is an Associate Professor of Medicine on the Medical Educator Track at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC). As Chief, she is responsible for overseeing the service's operations, leading a team of ethics consultants, managing the consultation database, and guaranteeing the quality and effectiveness of the ethics consultation program. She earned her Medical Degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua in Mexico, a Master’s Degree in Bioethics from Anáhuac University, and a Doctorate in Bioethics from Loyola University Chicago. She also completed a clinical bioethics fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

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