ArticleBMC psychiatry2022
The impact of the euthanasia assessment procedure: a qualitative interview study among adults with psychiatric conditions.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Requests for Medical Assistance in Dying by Young Dutch People With Psychiatric Disorders.JAMA psychiatry · 2025Observational
- Qualitative Research on the Topic of End-of-Life Care and a Palliative Care Approach in Persons with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness: Reflections and Take-Home Messages.Alpha psychiatry · 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
- Article
- Assessing and managing patients with borderline personality disorder requesting medical assistance in dying.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Medical assistance in dying for people living with mental disorders: a qualitative thematic review.BMC medical ethics · 2023Review
- A lived experience response to the proposed diagnosis of terminal anorexia nervosa: learning from iatrogenic harm, ambivalence and enduring hope.Journal of eating disorders · 2023Article
- Characteristics and outcomes of peer consultations for assisted dying request assessments: Cross-sectional survey study among attending physicians.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAssisted dying for adults with psychiatric conditions (APC) is highly controversial but legally possible in a few countries, including Belgium. Previous research has suggested that the complex euthanasia assessment procedure may cause additional suffering in APC but may also induce positive experiences. This study reports on the impact of the euthanasia assessment procedure as experienced by APC on three counts: 1) their mental state, including death ideation; 2) their treatment trajectory; 3) their social relationships.
methodsWe performed an in-depth qualitative interview study with 16 APC in Flanders, Belgium, who had voiced a euthanasia request between 2016-2020. Thematic coding was used.
findingsWe interviewed 16 APC. Euthanasia assessment procedures brought out a plethora of experiences in APC, both favourable and unfavourable. Whereas thoughts of suicide remain present to a certain extent, being in the assessment procedure allows some APC to reconsider alternatives towards life, and also to attempt new treatment options. However, many APC experience ambivalence about the supposedly inherent desirability and dignity in euthanasia. Worries also surfaced about the rationale behind and effects of involvement of APCs' social circle, and about the impact it could have on them.
conclusionFurther research, including other stakeholder perspectives, is recommended with a view to maximising favourable and minimising unfavourable impacts for all involved. In clinical practice attention to these impacts is paramount, and clear communication and management of expectations between physician and patient, seems appropriate to address the many ambivalent experiences that accompany APC during the euthanasia assessment procedure. Policy attention could in this regard go to clarifying certain sources of ambivalence and issues that are insufficiently addressed, such as modalities of relatives' involvement.
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