The long and winding road to assisted dying in Australia

Duckett, Stephen

doi:10.1002/ajs4.77

Cited by 8 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Consent to participate was implied by completion of the survey. The survey had several sub-sections and was developed by the research team to understand (1) clinician characteristics and demographics, (2) their stance on MAiD, (3) cognitive factors that they believe underlie capacity, and (4) interpretations of hypothetical scenarios. The full questionnaire can be found in the Supplementary Material.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Medical assistance in dying (MAiD), also known as physician-assisted death, is currently legal in several countries across the globe, including Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Colombia, and Switzerland [1,2]. It is also legal in several American states [1] and in one Australian state [3]. All of these jurisdictions have established patient eligibility criteria for MAiD to ensure appropriate access and safeguards [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1,2 It is also legal in several American states 1 and in one Australian state. 3 All of these jurisdictions have established patient eligibility criteria for MAiD to ensure appropriate access and safeguards. 1 Many locations also require that two independent physicians make the determination of MAiD eligibility.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neuro-Oncology Clinicians’ Attitudes and Perspectives on Medical Assistance in Dying

Climans¹,

Mason²,

Variath

et al. 2021

Can. J. Neurol. Sci.

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IntroductionMedical assistance in dying (MAiD), also known as physician-assisted death, is currently legal in several locations across the globe. Even more jurisdictions are considering legalizing MAiD. Brain cancer or its treatments can lead to cognitive impairment, which can impact decision-making capacity. In most jurisdictions patients are assessed for mental capacity to inform MAiD eligibility. We sought to explore worldwide neuro-oncology clinicians' attitudes and perspectives on MAiD, including interpretation of decision-making capacity for patient MAiD eligibility. MethodsAn online survey was distributed to members of national and international neuro-oncology societies. We asked questions about decision-making capacity and MAiD, in part using hypothetical patient scenarios. Multiple choice and free-text responses were captured. ResultsThere were 125 survey respondents. Impaired cognition was identi ed as the most important factor that would signal a decline in patient capacity. At least 26% of survey respondents had moral objections to MAiD. Fewer clinicians were willing to support a MAiD decision for patients with lower-grade tumors and better performance status. Conclusionshile there are differing opinions on the moral permissibility of MAiD in general and for neuro-oncology patients, most clinicians agree that capacity must be assessed carefully before a decision is made.Further, some patients with brain tumors are not generally thought to be MAiD-eligible due to the nature of their speci c diseases. These results can inform assessments of patient capacity in neuro-oncological practice in jurisdictions where MAiD is legal.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Neuro-Oncology Clinicians’ Attitudes and Perspectives on Medical Assistance in Dying

Climans¹,

Mason²,

Variath

et al. 2021

Can. J. Neurol. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The committee that was charged with considering this 1996 bill received over 12,000 submissions, of which 90% were in opposition to legalising VAD [ 12 ]. As noted in later sections, this was in stark contrast to the opinions about VAD held by the Australian public during the same time period.…”

Section: History Of the Vad Debate In Australiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the historical significance of these facts, the events of 1995 were not the beginning of the VAD debate in Australia. The Victorian Parliament was the first to raise the issue of VAD in 1985 [ 13 ], when it appointed a parliamentary committee with the task of looking into the “right to die” issue [ 12 ]. The inquiry by the parliamentary committee generated more than 1000 submissions, included public hearings, and took statements from 152 witnesses [ 12 ].…”

Section: History Of the Vad Debate In Australiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes and Arguments in the Voluntary Assisted Dying Debate in Australia: What Are They and How Have They Evolved Over Time?

Kresin

Hawgood

Leo

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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This paper provides a broad discussion about voluntary assisted dying (VAD) in Australia. The discussion examines the history of the VAD debate in Australia and whether public support for VAD and the arguments that have provided the framework for the VAD debate have evolved over time. This seems a prudent time to have such a discussion, given the very recent rush by all Australian states to bring about or attempt to bring about VAD legislation. This rush, inexplicably perhaps, comes after decades of attempted but failed progress in the legalisation of VAD in Australia. The authors attempted to undertake a systematic literature review for this paper, but the paucity of academic research and the lack of consistent terminology in this area made such a search untenable. Instead, the authors examined parliamentary documentation and then widened the search via the sources found within this documentation. The examination of available data showed that VAD has enjoyed significant public support from Australians over time and that the arguments in the VAD debate in Australia have been consistent over time.

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Examining public stigma and expectations of grief following medical aid and dying in the US: A vignette-based experiment

2022

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Objectives Families bereaved following Medical Aid in Dying (MAID)-related death express concerns about public stigma. As access to MAID expands, research examining MAID is needed, including understanding stigma toward family members. This study examines if stigmatization exists toward bereaved individuals whose family member utilized MAID at differing ages and assess if expectations of grief differ between bereaved individuals whose family member utilized MAID compared to bereaved individuals whose family member died of an illness. Methods This study utilized a randomized, between-groups, vignette-based experiment to test the effects of cause of death (MAID vs. illness-related death) and age (28, 38, 70, and 80 years) of the deceased on indicators of public stigma. Participants (N = 428) were recruited from mTURK (Mage = 42.54; SDage = 16.50). Results Analyses showed a statistically significant interaction between age and the mode of death (F(7, 400), p = 0.001, $\eta _{\rm p}^2$ = 0.06) and the main effect for age (F(5, 401), p = 0.004, $\eta _{\rm p}^2$ = 0.04) on expectations of grief, whereas emotional reactions and wanting social distance were not significant (p > 0.05). Participants expected more maladaptive grief among family members of 28- and 70-year-olds who died of illness compared to 28- or 38-year-olds who utilized MAID [28-year-old (M = 44.12, SD = 12.03) or 70-year-old (M = 44.32, SD = 10.29) illness-related death vs. 28-year-old (M = 39.3, SD = 11.56; p = 0.01) or 38-year-old (M = 38.71, SD = 11.56; p = 0.007) MAID-related death]. Significance of results Findings suggest that direct stigma does not exist toward family members of individuals engaging in MAID. The American public may expect that family members of young individuals who utilize MAID are accepting of the death and expect them to experience fewer maladaptive grief symptoms. Future research should investigate differences in bereavement outcomes based on age of bereaved caregivers of individuals engaging in MAID.

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The long and winding road to assisted dying in Australia

Cited by 8 publications

References 25 publications

Neuro-Oncology Clinicians’ Attitudes and Perspectives on Medical Assistance in Dying

Neuro-Oncology Clinicians’ Attitudes and Perspectives on Medical Assistance in Dying

Attitudes and Arguments in the Voluntary Assisted Dying Debate in Australia: What Are They and How Have They Evolved Over Time?

Examining public stigma and expectations of grief following medical aid and dying in the US: A vignette-based experiment

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