Support for and willingness to be involved in voluntary assisted dying: a multisite, cross-sectional survey study of clinicians in Victoria, Australia Sellars, M, Tacey, M, McDougall, R, Hayes, B, Pratt, B, Hempton, Courtney, Detering, K, Aldrich, R, Benson, M, Kirwan, J, Gold, M, O'Driscoll, L and Ko, D 2021, Support for and willingness to be involved in voluntary assisted dying: a multisite, cross-sectional survey study of clinicians in Victoria, Australia, Internal Medicine Journal, vol. 51, no. 10, pp. 1619-1628, doi: 10.1111/imj.15434. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Support for and willingness to be involved in voluntary assisted dying: a multisite, cross-sectional survey study of clinicians in Victoria, Australia Author(s) Sellars, M Tacey, M McDougall, R Hayes, B Pratt, B Hempton, Courtney orcid.org/0000-0001-9444-1170 Detering, K Aldrich, R Benson, M Kirwan, J Gold, M O'Driscoll, L Ko, D Journal name Internal Medicine Journal Volume number 51 Issue number 10 Start page 1619 End page 1628 Total pages 10 Publisher Wiley Place of publication London, Eng. Publication date 2021 ISSN 1444-0903 1445-5994 Keyword(s) asssited suicide euthanasia assisted dying surveys and questionnaires assisted suicide Summary Background: In the Australian state of Victoria, specialist doctors are central to the operation of voluntary assisted dying (VAD). However, a broad range of clinicians may be involved in the care of patients requesting or using VAD. Aims: To describe levels of support for and willingness to be involved in VAD and consider factors associated with clinician support for the VAD legislation and physicians' willingness to provide VAD in practice. Methods: A multisite, cross-sectional survey of clinicians in seven Victorian hospitals. All clinicians were invited to complete an online survey measuring demographic characteristics, awareness of and support for the VAD legislation, willingness to participate in VAD related activities and reasons for willingness or unwillingness to participate in VAD. Results: Of 5690 who opened the survey, 5159 (90.1%) were included in the final sample and 73% (n = 3768) supported the VAD legislation. The strongest predictor of support for the VAD legislation was clinical role. Forty percent (n = 238) of medical specialists indicated they would be willing to participate in either the VAD consulting or coordinating role. Doctors did not differ in willingness between high impact (44%) and low impact specialty (41%); however, doctors specialising in palliative care or geriatric medicine were significantly less willing to participate (27%). Conclusion: Approximately 73% of surveyed staff supported Victoria's VAD legislation. However, only a minority of medical specialists reported willingness to participate in VAD, suggesting potential access issues for patients requesting VAD in accordance with the legal requirements in Victoria. Language eng DOI 10.1111/imj.15434 Indigenous content off Field of Research 1102 Cardiorespiratory Medicine and Haematology 1103 Clinical Sciences 1117 Public Health and Health Services HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30159710 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Arts and Education Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation Related Links Link Description Connect to published version Go to link with your DU access privileges   Connect to Elements publication management system Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Mon, 29 Nov 2021, 21:37:11 EST Tue, 30 Nov 2021, 14:49:47 EST Tue, 30 Nov 2021, 15:03:08 EST Wed, 16 Feb 2022, 13:00:25 EST Wed, 16 Feb 2022, 13:02:23 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 3 times in TR Web of Science Cited 2 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 28 Abstract Views, 1 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Mon, 29 Nov 2021, 21:37:11 EST