ArticlePalliative care and social practice2025
Key challenges in providing assisted dying in Belgium: a qualitative analysis of health professionals' experiences.
Article in Palliative care and social practice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- A qualitative study of the barriers to and facilitators of the delivery of medical assistance in dying services in Canada from the perspectives of involved professionals.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Attitudes, Roles, and Competencies of Clinical Psychologists Regarding Euthanasia Due to Unbearable Mental Suffering.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
- Nursing ethical dimensions of euthanasia and medically assisted suicide for older people in need of long-term care.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Developing robust systems for Track 2 MAID in Canada: A qualitative study.Palliative care and social practice · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Assisted dying or 'euthanasia' has been legal in Belgium since 2002. Extensive research has been conducted which investigates Belgian euthanasia practice, however, the current challenges that health professionals face when providing euthanasia are not well known. This knowledge is important for evaluating the current system, especially in light of recent developments in Belgian euthanasia law and practice including judicial decisions, legislative amendments and research highlighting the complexity of its governing regulatory framework. Objectives: This study investigates the key challenges that health professionals experience when providing euthanasia in Belgium. Design: A qualitative interview study with reflexive thematic analysis. Methods: Twenty interviews were conducted between September 2022 and March 2024 using Microsoft Teams videoconferencing. Eligible participants were physicians and nurses who spoke English or Dutch and who had been involved in the euthanasia assessment of at least two patients in the past year. Results: Four themes were generated: (1) the framing of the euthanasia legislation poses challenges; (2) providing euthanasia can place considerable burdens on health professionals; (3) clashing views about euthanasia can hamper opportunities for balanced discussions and (4) euthanasia and processes relating to euthanasia are not always well-understood. Conclusion: This study highlights the numerous and varied challenges physicians and nurses experience when providing euthanasia in Belgium, even 20 years after its law passing. This study contributes to a wider understanding of universal challenges associated with providing assisted dying and sheds light on issues specific to Belgium. The results provide an opportunity for policymakers to take action to better support providers to manage these challenges, including through a formal review of the legislation and the broader system.
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