• BMC palliative care · Jul 2021

    Medical Assistance in Dying in patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers: a mixed methods longitudinal study protocol.

    • Madeline Li, Gilla K Shapiro, Roberta Klein, Anne Barbeau, Anne Rydall, BellJennifer A HJAHhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3617-6852Department of Supportive Care, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, 620 University Avenue, 12th Floor, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2C1, Canada.Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Me, Rinat Nissim, Sarah Hales, Camilla Zimmermann, WongRebecca K SRKSDepartment of Supportive Care, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, 620 University Avenue, 12th Floor, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2C1, Canada.Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Ca, and Gary Rodin.
    • Department of Supportive Care, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, 620 University Avenue, 12th Floor, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2C1, Canada. madeline.li@uhn.ca.
    • BMC Palliat Care. 2021 Jul 21; 20 (1): 117.

    BackgroundThe legal criteria for medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for adults with a grievous and irremediable medical condition were established in Canada in 2016. There has been concern that potentially reversible states of depression or demoralization may contribute to the desire for death (DD) and requests for MAiD. However, little is known about the emergence of the DD in patients, its impact on caregivers, and to what extent supportive care interventions affect the DD and requests for MAiD. The present observational study is designed to determine the prevalence, predictors, and experience of the DD, requests for MAiD and MAiD completion in patients with advanced or metastatic cancer and the impact of these outcomes on their primary caregivers.MethodsA cohort of patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumour cancers and their primary caregivers will be recruited from a large tertiary cancer centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to a longitudinal, mixed methods study. Participants will be assessed at baseline for diagnostic information, sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, quality of life, physical and psychological distress, attitudes about the DD and MAiD, communication with physicians, advance care planning, and use of psychosocial and palliative care interventions. Measures will subsequently be completed every six months and at the time of MAiD requests. Quantitative assessments will be supplemented by qualitative interviews in a subset of participants, selected using quota sampling methods.DiscussionThis study has the potential to add importantly to our understanding of the prevalence and determinants of the DD, MAiD requests and completions in patients with advanced or metastatic cancer and of the experience of both patients and caregivers in this circumstance. The findings from this study may also assist healthcare providers in their conversations about MAiD and the DD with patients and caregivers, inform healthcare providers to ensure appropriate access to MAiD, and guide modifications being considered to broaden MAiD legislation and policy.© 2021. The Author(s).

      Pubmed     Free full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…

What will the 'Medical Journal of You' look like?

Start your free 21 day trial now.

We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.