Public attitudes to life‐sustaining treatments and euthanasia in dementia

Williams, Nia; Dunford, Charlotte; Knowles, Alice; Warner, James

doi:10.1002/gps.1819

Cited by 37 publications

(40 citation statements)

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“…Eight sources7 8 15 18 22–25 were identified which explored public attitudes to euthanasia. Of these, six were survey based with large sample sizes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public attitudes to death and dying in the UK: a review of published literature

Cox

Bird

Arthur

et al. 2012

BMJ Support Palliat Care

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“…Eight sources7 8 15 18 22–25 were identified which explored public attitudes to euthanasia. Of these, six were survey based with large sample sizes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public attitudes to death and dying in the UK: a review of published literature

Cox

Bird

Arthur

et al. 2012

BMJ Support Palliat Care

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“…Where wider surveys of the attitudes of the general public toward dementia have been undertaken (e.g., McParland et al, 2012), results suggest the general public has, at best, a fair to moderate knowledge about dementia, but there are often misconceptions, such as believing dementia to be a normal part of ageing. Research into attitudes toward dementia often tends to focus on specific issues such as screening for dementia (Bond et al, 2010), euthanasia (Williams et al, 2007) or artificial feeding (Bryon, de Casterlé & Gastmans, 2008), rather than on wider issues. Moreover, these surveys often do not use validated scales (Cahill et al, 2015), or directly compare attitudes across settings, populations, or over time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does personal experience of dementia change attitudes? The Bristol and South Gloucestershire survey of dementia attitudes

2018

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We recommend you cite the published version. The publisher's URL is: https://doi.org/10.1177/1471301217752707Refereed: Yes (no note) Disclaimer UWE has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material deposited and as to their right to deposit such material. UWE makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, express or implied in respect of any material deposited.UWE makes no representation that the use of the materials will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other property or proprietary rights. UWE accepts no liability for any infringement of intellectual property rights in any material deposited but will remove such material from public view pending investigation in the event of an allegation of any such infringement. is associated with differences in attitudes towards dementia.Methods: a modified version of the ADQ was completed by 2,201 participants, either on-line or in written form. Participants also recorded their age, gender and ethnicity as well as whether they worked with people with dementia, or had been personally affected by dementia.Results: increased contact with people with dementia was associated with increases in both total ADQ scores and across both sub-scales reflecting more positive personcentred attitudes toward dementia. The highest levels of increase were found amongst non-white participants.Conclusions: this study is, we believe, the first attempt to look systematically at whether greater contact with people with dementia is associated with changes in attitudes. The results strongly support the contention that increased contact with people with dementia leads to more person-centred attitudes, and by inference, less stigmatising views.Keywords: dementia; Alzheimer's disease; community care; stigma; attitudes; social support.3 BackgroundA key element of government policy within the United Kingdom (UK) and elsewhere has been to build dementia-friendly communities, and to reduce the stigma that people with dementia face (Department of Health, 2012). In order for these aims to be achieved, public attitudes towards people with dementia need to become more person-centred. However, it is unclear how attitudes towards people with dementia are formed and whether, for instance, increased contact with people with dementia, either through work or personal experience alters attitudes.Previously research in this area has typically focussed on attitudes of professionals working with individuals living with dementia (e.g., Kokkonen et al., 2014;Leung et al., 2013;Lintern, 2001) In the wider mental health literature, increased levels of contact have been associated with a positive impact on attitudes and a reduction of stigma (London and 4 Evans -Lacko, 2010;Couture and Penn, 2003;Clement et al, 2015). While there is an assumption that increased contact with people with dementia will break down barriers, improve attitudes and help to overcome stigma, not all research findings suggest ...

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“…In the US, Gjerdingen, Neff, Wang, and Chaloner (1999) report that 40% of people aged 65 or over regard the loss of mental faculties as being 'worse than death' and would forgo life-sustaining procedures in the face of dementia. Williams, Dunford, Knowles, and Warner (2007) report that a majority of their respondents from London and the south east of England supported a right to die in the case of mild, moderate and severe dementia, with over 50% of white respondents being in favour of PAS and euthanasia for themselves and their partners in the case of severe dementia. Similarly in the Netherlands, 62% public acceptance of active ending of life for a patient with dementia has been shown (Rietjens et al, 2005) in marked contrast to physicians interviewed as part of a larger study in which only 6% endorsed this as an acceptable reason for assisted dying.…”

Section: Opinion Poll Evidencementioning

confidence: 96%

Joining a right-to-die society: Motivation, beliefs and experiences

Judd

Seale

2011

Mortality

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Right-to-die societies represent a new social movement driven by societal change. They reflect concerns about the impact of advances in medicine, about the quality of care available for people at the end of life and the consequences of demographic changes that lead to the prolongation of dying with high degrees of disability and distress. More generally, the growth of individualism and the obligation towards exercising personal autonomy leads to desires to control events near the end of life. This paper reports a survey of the membership of a UK right-to-die society Friends at the End (FATE). A questionnaire answered by 41% (162) of the members of this society provided insight into motives and experiences that had led to a decision to join. Members were more likely to be female, older and of higher social standing than the general population. A high proportion were religious and found no conflict between this and their membership, and a high proportion had backgrounds in health and social care. Motives for membership included the desire for practical assistance with dying, past involvement with deaths that involved high levels of dependency and distress, and commitment to 'right' to die ideology. The concerns of members about the distress of dying mirror what is known about the reasons why people approaching death request an assisted death.We report an investigation of who joins one UK right-to-die society (Friends at the End, or FATE) and their reasons for joining. The factors shaping beliefs and motives are explored, including the influence of providing care for, or having a close association with, terminally ill individuals. The degree of similarity between the views of right-to-die society members and the findings of existing research on the factors shaping requests for assisted dying by terminally ill patients is assessed. Findings are contextualised within broader societal developments, including the growth of health social movements, of which the right-to-die movement is an example.

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Public attitudes to life‐sustaining treatments and euthanasia in dementia

Abstract: Our survey suggests that a large proportion of the UK general public do not wish for life-sustaining treatments if they were to become demented and the majority agreed with various forms of euthanasia.

Cited by 37 publications

References 11 publications

Public attitudes to death and dying in the UK: a review of published literature

Public attitudes to death and dying in the UK: a review of published literature

Does personal experience of dementia change attitudes? The Bristol and South Gloucestershire survey of dementia attitudes

Joining a right-to-die society: Motivation, beliefs and experiences

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