The Influence of Death Attitudes and Knowledge of End of Life Options on Attitudes toward Physician-Assisted Suicide

2009 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven W. Kopp
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Health Care Policy ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
End Of Life Decisions ◽  
Death Attitudes ◽  
Attitudes Toward Death ◽  
Attitudinal Factors ◽  
Life Options

End of life decisions, such as physician-assisted suicide (PAS), have continued to be controversial as health care policy, moral, and individual health care issues. This study considers knowledge of end of life options and death attitudes as predictors of attitudes toward PAS. Data were gathered from approximately 300 adults through a mailing sent to a household research panel. Validated measures of attitudes toward PAS, knowledge about that state's assisted suicide laws, demographics, and attitudes toward death as measured through the Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R) were collected and analyzed. The data indicate that attitudes toward PAS are a function of knowledge of end of life options as well as death attitudinal factors.

scholarly journals Trends and Patterns in the Public Awareness of Palliative Care, Euthanasia, and End-of-Life Decisions in 3 Central European Countries Using Big Data Analysis From Google: Retrospective Analysis (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Huemer ◽  
Daniela Jahn-Kuch ◽  
Guenter Hofmann ◽  
Elisabeth Andritsch ◽  
Clemens Farkas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
End Of Life Decisions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Life Decisions ◽  
Advance Health Care Directives

BACKGROUND End-of-life decisions, specifically the provision of euthanasia and assisted suicide services, challenge traditional medical and ethical principles. Austria and Germany have decided to liberalize their laws restricting assisted suicide, thus reigniting the debate about a meaningful framework in which the practice should be embedded. Evidence of the relevance of assisted suicide and euthanasia for the general population in Germany and Austria is limited. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to examine whether the public awareness documented by search activities in the most frequently used search engine, Google, on the topics of <i>palliative care, euthanasia</i>, and <i>advance health care directives</i> changed with the implementation of palliative care services and new governmental regulations concerning end-of-life decisions. METHODS We searched for policies, laws, and regulations promulgated or amended in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland between 2004 and 2020 and extracted data on the search volume for each search term topic from Google Trends as a surrogate of public awareness and interest. Annual averages were analyzed using the Joinpoint Regression Program. RESULTS Important policy changes yielded significant changes in search trends for the investigated topics. The enactment of laws regulating advance health care directives coincided with a significant drop in the volume of searches for the topic of euthanasia in all 3 countries (Austria: −24.48%, <i>P</i>=.02; Germany: −14.95%, <i>P</i><.001; Switzerland: −11.75%, <i>P</i>=.049). Interest in palliative care increased with the availability of care services and the implementation of laws and policies to promote palliative care (Austria: 22.69%, <i>P</i>=.01; Germany: 14.39, <i>P</i><.001; Switzerland: 17.59%, <i>P</i><.001). The search trends for advance health care directives showed mixed results. While interest remained steady in Austria within the study period, it increased by 3.66% (<i>P</i><.001) in Switzerland and decreased by 2.85% (<i>P</i><.001) in Germany. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate that legal measures securing patients’ autonomy at the end of life may lower the search activities for topics related to euthanasia and assisted suicide. Palliative care may be a meaningful way to raise awareness of the different options for end-of-life care and to guide patients in their decision-making process regarding the same.

scholarly journals Trends and Patterns in the Public Awareness of Palliative Care, Euthanasia, and End-of-Life Decisions in 3 Central European Countries Using Big Data Analysis From Google: Retrospective Analysis

10.2196/28635 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (9) ◽  
pp. e28635
Author(s):  
Matthias Huemer ◽  
Daniela Jahn-Kuch ◽  
Guenter Hofmann ◽  
Elisabeth Andritsch ◽  
Clemens Farkas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
End Of Life Decisions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Life Decisions ◽  
Advance Health Care Directives

Background End-of-life decisions, specifically the provision of euthanasia and assisted suicide services, challenge traditional medical and ethical principles. Austria and Germany have decided to liberalize their laws restricting assisted suicide, thus reigniting the debate about a meaningful framework in which the practice should be embedded. Evidence of the relevance of assisted suicide and euthanasia for the general population in Germany and Austria is limited. Objective The aim of this study is to examine whether the public awareness documented by search activities in the most frequently used search engine, Google, on the topics of palliative care, euthanasia, and advance health care directives changed with the implementation of palliative care services and new governmental regulations concerning end-of-life decisions. Methods We searched for policies, laws, and regulations promulgated or amended in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland between 2004 and 2020 and extracted data on the search volume for each search term topic from Google Trends as a surrogate of public awareness and interest. Annual averages were analyzed using the Joinpoint Regression Program. Results Important policy changes yielded significant changes in search trends for the investigated topics. The enactment of laws regulating advance health care directives coincided with a significant drop in the volume of searches for the topic of euthanasia in all 3 countries (Austria: −24.48%, P=.02; Germany: −14.95%, P<.001; Switzerland: −11.75%, P=.049). Interest in palliative care increased with the availability of care services and the implementation of laws and policies to promote palliative care (Austria: 22.69%, P=.01; Germany: 14.39, P<.001; Switzerland: 17.59%, P<.001). The search trends for advance health care directives showed mixed results. While interest remained steady in Austria within the study period, it increased by 3.66% (P<.001) in Switzerland and decreased by 2.85% (P<.001) in Germany. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that legal measures securing patients’ autonomy at the end of life may lower the search activities for topics related to euthanasia and assisted suicide. Palliative care may be a meaningful way to raise awareness of the different options for end-of-life care and to guide patients in their decision-making process regarding the same.

End-of-Life Options Act Fails to Protect Conscience Rights

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Andrew S. Kubick ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Medical Professionals ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Life Options

In March 2021, New Mexico became the ninth state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. This practice, which allows medical professionals to aid in the intentional death of their patients, is counter to Catholic teaching. As such, it raises concerns regarding the conscience rights of Catholic physicians, as well as physicians who are morally opposed to the practice. In particular, while there ostensibly are protections for those who object, the requirement for physicians unwilling to aid in the deaths of their patients to refer said patients to physicians who will, essentially compels individuals to participate in an act that is intrinsically evil.

How Health Care Institutions in the Netherlands Approach Physician Assisted Death

1996 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herman H. Van Der Kloot Meijburg
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Professional Expertise ◽  
Assisted Death ◽  
Health Care Institutions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Way

There is a need for reassessing the specific responsibilities of health care institutions in cases of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. For many patients health care institutions have become their end-of-life setting. With regard to patients' decisions toward the end of life, hospitals carry three responsibilities of their own: first, they must attend to the needs of the individual patient; second, they are responsible for offering professional expertise and their experience to the patient; and third, they must execute the responsibilities entrusted to them by society. In the way health care institutions cope with institutional decisions toward the end of life, they fulfill an exemplary function. In this contribution we will explore these institutional responsibilities by looking at the developments in The Netherlands.

To die, to sleep, perchance to dream? A response to DeMichelis, Shaul and Rapoport

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 832-834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel L Gamble ◽  
Nathan K Gamble ◽  
Michal Pruski
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Medical Ethics ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Palliative Sedation ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Medical Assistance ◽  
End Of Life Decisions ◽  
Medical Assistance In Dying ◽  
Life Decisions

In developing their policy on paediatric medical assistance in dying (MAID), DeMichelis, Shaul and Rapoport decide to treat euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide as ethically and practically equivalent to other end-of-life interventions, particularly palliative sedation and withdrawal of care (WOC). We highlight several flaws in the authors’ reasoning. Their argument depends on too cursory a dismissal of intention, which remains fundamental to medical ethics and law. Furthermore, they have not fairly presented the ethical analyses justifying other end-of-life decisions, analyses and decisions that were generally accepted long before MAID was legal or considered ethical. Forgetting or misunderstanding the analyses would naturally lead one to think MAID and other end-of-life decisions are morally equivalent. Yet as we recall these well-developed analyses, it becomes clear that approving of some forms of sedation and WOC does not commit one to MAID. Paediatric patients and their families can rationally and coherently reject MAID while choosing palliative care and WOC. Finally, the authors do not substantiate their claim that MAID is like palliative care in that it alleviates suffering. It is thus unreasonable to use this supposition as a warrant for their proposed policy.

scholarly journals Ethical considerations at the end-of-life care

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 205031212110009
Author(s):  
Melahat Akdeniz ◽  
Bülent Yardımcı ◽  
Ethem Kavukcu
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Biomedical Ethics ◽  
Artificial Nutrition ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide

The goal of end-of-life care for dying patients is to prevent or relieve suffering as much as possible while respecting the patients’ desires. However, physicians face many ethical challenges in end-of-life care. Since the decisions to be made may concern patients’ family members and society as well as the patients, it is important to protect the rights, dignity, and vigor of all parties involved in the clinical ethical decision-making process. Understanding the principles underlying biomedical ethics is important for physicians to solve the problems they face in end-of-life care. The main situations that create ethical difficulties for healthcare professionals are the decisions regarding resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, artificial nutrition and hydration, terminal sedation, withholding and withdrawing treatments, euthanasia, and physician-assisted suicide. Five ethical principles guide healthcare professionals in the management of these situations.

Is Presence Always Complicity? An Analysis of Presence, Its Moral Objects, and Scandal in Proximity to Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

2021 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-508
Author(s):  
Daniel Fleming
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Moral Action ◽  
Theological Ethics ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Recent Letter ◽  
Action Intention ◽  
Catholic Theological

Catholic chaplains and clinicians who exercise their vocations in contexts wherein physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia (PAS-E) are legal may need to confront the difficult question of whether or not their presence in proximity to these acts and the processes that govern them is consistent with Catholic ethics. Debate on this question to date has focused on complicit presence and scandal. Drawing on Catholic theological ethics and the vision for end-of-life care espoused in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s recent letter, Samaritanus Bonus, I argue that some forms of presence in proximity to PAS-E are ethically justifiable. Core to this argument are the three elements of moral action: intention, object, and circumstance, alongside efforts to mitigate the risk of scandal informed by the teaching of Aquinas.

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