Child: care, health and development
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Child Care Health Dev · May 2009
Attitudes of Flemish secondary school students towards euthanasia and other end-of-life decisions in minors.
The aim of the study was to investigate attitudes of secondary school students towards acceptability of requests by minors for end-of-life decisions (ELDs) with a possible life-shortening effect: non-treatment decisions, potentially life-shortening alleviation of pain and symptoms (APS) and euthanasia. ⋯ Attitudes towards ELD requests varied with case and participant characteristics and type of ELD. The studied adolescents have a clear wish to be informed about terminal prognosis. Physicians and caregivers should adequately involve adolescents in decision making and tailor prognosis-related information to their needs and level of competency.