Many Australians come to the end of their life while living in aged care. But damningly, the aged care royal commission found many residents have worse palliative care options than those living elsewhere.
Expanding access to medical assistance in dying (MAID) to those not terminally ill puts vulnerable people at risk of feeling pressured into MAID, and doctors at risk of being forced to facilitate it.
The seriously ill and their families often want to protect each other from thoughts of death. Conversation about end-of-life choices are, however, essential to a good death.
Nurses who surround the process of medically assisted dying are an important source of insight into the real conversations our society needs to have about what it’s really like.
Western Australia might soon become the second state in Australia to legalise voluntary assisted dying. Its proposed law draws on the Victorian model, but has some important differences, too.
Ben White, Queensland University of Technology; Eliana Close, Queensland University of Technology et Lindy Willmott, Queensland University of Technology
As we sit on the cusp of voluntary assisted dying becoming legal in Victoria, we expect it won’t always be simple for people who want it to access it – at least in the legislation’s early days.
Palliative radiation therapy can improve a cancer patient’s life, by alleviating pain and other symptoms. Unfortunately, some doctors associate the term with end-of-life care and fail to refer people.
You’ve more than likely heard of birth doulas. But nowadays, death doulas are providing support at the end of life. How they fit into existing structures of care remains to be understood.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne