The American journal of hospice & palliative care
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Am J Hosp Palliat Care · Nov 2021
Hospice Palliative Care Volunteers' Attitudes, Opinions, Experiences, and Perceived Needs for Training Around Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).
Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) has been legal in Canada for over 4 years, but little is known about hospice palliative care (HPC) volunteers' attitudes toward MAiD. To address this issue, 48 volunteers from 2 HPC volunteer programs in Atlantic Canada completed an anonymous mail survey examining their attitudes, opinions, experiences, and perceived needs for training around MAiD. The volunteers' responses were generally supportive of MAiD as an end-of-life option and approving of some of the proposed changes to the current MAiD legislation (e.g., 85% of the volunteers either strongly agreed or agreed that advance requests for MAiD should be permitted). ⋯ Seventy percent of the volunteers reported that if a patient of theirs chose to pursue MAiD that they would be comfortable with being present (if asked) when it was being administered. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of the volunteers were interested in learning more about MAiD. The implications of this study for volunteer policies, specifically, those policies relating to the role of volunteers when it comes to conversations about MAiD with patients and patients' family members/caregivers (should they arise) are discussed, as is the need for training on the topic of MAiD.