Jessica Young

Jessica Young’s PhD research explored the views of 14 terminally ill New Zealanders who would consider choosing assisted dying if it were available to them. With her research, she aimed to bring their views into the debate on assisted dying and add nuance. This has led to her involvement in a campaign (Yes For Compassion) that shares dying people’s reasons for wanting choice and aims to educate the public by providing trustworthy, evidence-based information on the End of Life Choice Act 2019 in the lead up to the referendum. Jessica completed her PhD through the Dunedin School of Medicine. She holds an adjunct research fellow position in the School of Health, Victoria University of Wellington. Her research is at the intersection of sociology with medicine, death, health and illness. Jessica has published widely on assisted dying and received several awards for science communication as well as research excellence.