• Anna Kitta, Franziska Ecker, Elisabeth Lucia Zeilinger, Lea Kum, Feroniki Adamidis, and Eva Katharina Masel.
• Clinical Division of Palliative Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria. anna.kitta@meduniwien.ac.at.
• Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. 2024 Jul 1; 136 (13-14): 382389382-389.

BackgroundSince January 2022, assisted suicide (AS) in Austria is legal under certain conditions. One of these conditions is informative consultations with two physicians, one of whom must be qualified in palliative medicine. Patients who are thinking about AS can approach palliative care institutions. This study aims to assess the availability and nature of Austrian palliative care institutions' web-based statements about AS.MethodsIn this qualitative study, the websites of all Austrian palliative care units (n = 43) and all Austrian inpatient hospices (n = 14) were searched for possible statements on AS once in February 2022 and once in August 2022 using the three search terms "suicide", "assisted", and "euthanasia". The findings were subsequently evaluated using thematic analysis and NVivo software.ResultsStatements or texts that included positions on AS were found on the websites of 11 institutions (19%). The results covered three main themes 1) demarcation: denial of involvement and judgment about AS, 2) duty: handling of requests and describing the target group of care recipients, and 3) explanation: experience, values, concerns, and demands.ConclusionThe results of this study indicate that people in Austria who wish to have AS and who may use the internet as their first source of information largely find no relevant information. There is no online statement of a palliative care or hospice institution that endorses AS. Positions on AS are mostly lacking, while reluctant attitudes of Christian institutions are predominant.© 2023. The Author(s).

16 keywords...

hide…