ArticleBMC palliative care2021
How can we improve the experiences of patients and families who request medical assistance in dying? A multi-centre qualitative study.
Article in BMC palliative care, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Factors That Influence Access to Medical Assistance in Dying Services: An Integrative Review.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Pooled it
- Supporting a Different Type of Death: Experiences of Family Members of Recipients of Medical Assistance in Dying.Nursing open · 2026Article
- End-of-life communication in the context of MAID: a qualitative study on the perspectives and preferences of individuals living with MS.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- 'It Simply Required Far Too Many Steps and Made You Feel You Were Just a Number'. Family Caregivers' Experiences With Assisted Suicide in Austria: A Qualitative Study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Descriptions and Experiences with Medical Assistance in Dying Models Across Canada: A Mixed Methods Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Family perspectives on high-quality MAiD service and delivery: a cross-Canada qualitative descriptive study.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- [Psychotherapists' role in requests for assisted suicide-an open question].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2026Review
- "It is difficult to be absolutely sure one way or the other." - a mixed method study on Finnish physicians' views on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.BMC medical ethics · 2025Article
- Patients' and Caregivers' Suggestions for Improving Assisted Dying Regulation: A Qualitative Study in Australia and Canada.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Article
- Care considerations in medical assistance in dying for persons with mental illness as the sole underlying medical condition: a qualitative study of patient and family perspectives.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Medical Assistance in Dying in Quebec: A Continuum Between Teams' Accountability and Interdisciplinary Support Groups' Assumption of Responsibility.International journal of public health · 2024Article
- "The Razor's Edge of Timing:" A Phenomenological Analysis of Decision-Making Processes Surrounding Medical Aid in Dying.International journal of public health · 2024Article
- The Support Needs of Patients Requesting Medical Aid in Dying and Their Relatives: A Qualitative Study Using Semi-Structured Interviews and Written Narratives.International journal of public health · 2024Article
- Views, Attitudes and Challenges When Supporting a Family Member in Their Decision to Travel to Switzerland to Receive Aid-In-Dying.International journal of public health · 2024Article
- Barriers to connecting with the voluntary assisted dying system in Victoria, Australia: A qualitative mixed method study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2023Article
- Relatives' Experiences of Being Involved in Assisted Dying: A Qualitative Study.Qualitative health research · 2023Article
- A qualitative study of experiences of institutional objection to medical assistance in dying in Canada: ongoing challenges and catalysts for change.BMC medical ethics · 2023Article
- Practitioners' experiences with 2021 amendments to Canada's medical assistance in dying law: a qualitative analysis.Palliative care and social practice · 2023Article
- Practice and challenges for organ donation after medical assistance in dying: A scoping review including the results of the first international roundtable in 2021.American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMedical assistance in dying has been available in Canada for 5 years, but it is unclear which practices contribute to high-quality care. We aimed to describe patient and family perspectives of quality of care for medical assistance in dying.
methodsWe conducted a multi-centre, qualitative descriptive study, including face to face or virtual one-hour interviews using a semi-structured guide. We interviewed 21 english-speaking patients found eligible for medical assistance in dying and 17 family members at four sites in Canada, between November 2017 and September 2019. Interviews were de-identified, and analyzed in an iterative process of thematic analysis.
resultsWe identified 18 themes. Sixteen themes were related to a single step in the process of medical assistance in dying (MAID requests, MAID assessments, preparation for dying, death and aftercare). Two themes (coordination and patient-centred care) were theme consistently across multiple steps in the MAID process. From these themes, alongside participant recommendations, we developed clinical practice suggestions which can guide care.
conclusionsPatients and families identified process-specific successes and challenges during the process of medical assistance in dying. Most importantly, they identified the need for care coordination and a patient-centred approach as central to high-quality care. More research is required to characterize which aspects of care most influence patient and family satisfaction.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.