An elderly woman told her daughters that if she ever ended up with dementia she wouldn't want to live like that. Years later she developed senile dementia and her daughters had her move into a nursing home. Although she did not recognize family or friends, she enjoyed the company of others and the nursing home's cat. When she stopped eating, her daughters were asked whether she should receive a feeding tube.

The daughters may approve the insertion of a feeding tube, understanding that significant changes in her mother's condition could lead to its removal.

Explanation:

This is a problem of bioethics. When taking a decision for another person who is currently in no position to take that decision, two things should be considered: that person's previously stated wishes, and the person's best interests. In this case, there's a dilemma, as the woman only told her daughters that "she wouldn't want to live like that" in case she ever developed dementia. However, this is a very general statement, and there's no further clarification of what exactly she meant by that - she could have meant not wanting to live with mental issues, or maybe not recognizing her own family, or not wanting to be artificially fed, and so on. Therefore, her daughters have to strike a balance between respecting her wishes and providing her with a good quality of life. In other words, they can approve the insertion of a feeding tube, understanding that if this means that her quality of life significantly degrades (which could be an interpretation of "not wanting to live like that"), then they might go ahead and discontinue the use of the feeding tube.