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Common dedication to facilitating good dying experiences: qualitative study of end-of-life care professionals' attitudes towards voluntary assisted dying

journal contribution
posted on 2019-06-01, 00:00 authored by Sarah-May Blaschke, Penelope Schofield, Keryn Taylor, Anna UgaldeAnna Ugalde
BACKGROUND:: Debate about appropriate and ethically acceptable end-of-life choices is ongoing, which includes discussion about the legalization of voluntary assisted dying. Given health professionals' role in caring for patients at the end life, their stance towards assisting a person with dying can have implications for policy development and implementation in jurisdictions where law changes are being considered. AIM:: To explore end-of-life care professionals' attitudes towards voluntary assisted dying 6 months prior to vote on legalization. DESIGN:: Qualitative study using textual data collected through semi-structured interviews. Purposive sampling strategy used to collect a broad representation of perspectives. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim and subjected to qualitative descriptive analysis techniques. PARTICIPANTS:: A total of 16 health professionals with experience in caring for people with life-limiting illness. RESULTS:: Participants reported two overarching positions grounded in differing moral philosophies with compelling arguments both for and against legalization of voluntary assisted dying. A third and common line of argument emerged from areas of shared concern and uncertainty about the practical consequences of introducing voluntary assisted dying. While a diversity of opinion was evident, all participants advocated for more public education and funding into end-of-life care services to make high-quality care equitable and widely available. CONCLUSION:: Common dedication to reducing suffering and facilitating good dying experiences exists among experts despite their divergent views on voluntary assisted dying. Ongoing engagement with stakeholders is needed for practical resolution in the interest of developing health policy for best patient care.

History

Journal

Palliative medicine

Volume

33

Issue

6

Pagination

562 - 569

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Location

London, Eng.

eISSN

1477-030X

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2019, The Author(s)