Physician Assisted Suicide Case Study

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In the U.S., the trend of traditional deathbed scenario where the dying person is lying at home surrounded by family and friends is breaking. Today, almost 80% of people die in institution among which 63% occurs in hospital and 17% in a long-term care facility (Erber 2013). In modern societies, the advancement of technology in healthcare have attracted many individuals to seek curative treatment. The decision to seek life prolonging measures is often driven by the death anxiety because in some circumstances it may help people to repress, or deny the news about themselves or loved one’s mortality (Kopczuk & Slemrod, 2007). DeSpelder and Strickland (2011) stated that in modern societies, every possible resource to prolong life is a popular coping mechanisms used to avoid death and do not accept death until it is inevitable. The institutionalization of older adults, and human nature of seeking help to prolong life through medical advancement is definitely revolutionizing the traditional deathbed scene. In these scenarios, the healthcare professionals such as doctors and nurses in hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted livings are …show more content…

It also illustrated that the end of life decision is highly impacted by personal characteristics such as age, ethnicity, gender, economic status, and disability. Therefore, the end of life decision making in the cases presented will be different depending upon the patient values and preferences. The ethical principle of autonomy will always take preference and the patient will be the one who will make decision on continuing with their treatment or choose end of life care such as palliative or hospice care. However, autonomy may be lost when a person has diminished decision-making ability. Fry et al. (2011) mentioned

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