The impact of COVID-19 on the experiences of patients and their family caregivers with medical assistance in dying in hospital
© 2023. The Author(s)..
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and its containment measures have drastically impacted end-of-life and grief experiences globally, including those related to medical assistance in dying (MAiD). No known qualitative studies to date have examined the MAiD experience during the pandemic. This qualitative study aimed to understand how the pandemic impacted the MAiD experience in hospital of persons requesting MAiD (patients) and their loved ones (caregivers) in Canada.
METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients who requested MAiD and their caregivers between April 2020 and May 2021. Participants were recruited during the first year of the pandemic from the University Health Network and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada. Patients and caregivers were interviewed about their experience following the MAiD request. Six months following patient death, bereaved caregivers were interviewed to explore their bereavement experience. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and de-identified. Transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.
RESULTS: Interviews were conducted with 7 patients (mean [SD] age, 73 [12] years; 5 [63%] women) and 23 caregivers (mean [SD] age, 59 [11] years; 14 [61%] women). Fourteen caregivers were interviewed at the time of MAiD request and 13 bereaved caregivers were interviewed post-MAiD. Four themes were generated with respect to the impact of COVID-19 and its containment measures on the MAiD experience in hospital: (1) accelerating the MAiD decision; (2) compromising family understanding and coping; (3) disrupting MAiD delivery; and (4) appreciating rule flexibility.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the tension between respecting pandemic restrictions and prioritizing control over the dying circumstances central to MAiD, and the resulting impact on patient and family suffering. There is a need for healthcare institutions to recognize the relational dimensions of the MAiD experience, particularly in the isolating context of the pandemic. Findings may inform strategies to better support those requesting MAiD and their families during the pandemic and beyond.
| Medienart: |
E-Artikel |
|---|
| Erscheinungsjahr: |
2023 |
|---|---|
| Erschienen: |
2023 |
| Enthalten in: |
Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:22 |
|---|---|
| Enthalten in: |
BMC palliative care - 22(2023), 1 vom: 13. Juni, Seite 70 |
| Sprache: |
Englisch |
|---|
| Beteiligte Personen: |
Tong, Eryn [VerfasserIn] |
|---|
| Links: |
|---|
| Themen: |
Assisted dying |
|---|
| Anmerkungen: |
Date Completed 15.06.2023 Date Revised 16.06.2023 published: Electronic Citation Status MEDLINE |
|---|
| doi: |
10.1186/s12904-023-01191-8 |
|---|
| funding: |
|
|---|---|
| Förderinstitution / Projekttitel: |
|
| PPN (Katalog-ID): |
NLM358138329 |
|---|
| LEADER | 01000naa a22002652 4500 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | NLM358138329 | ||
| 003 | DE-627 | ||
| 005 | 20231226074116.0 | ||
| 007 | cr uuu---uuuuu | ||
| 008 | 231226s2023 xx |||||o 00| ||eng c | ||
| 024 | 7 | |a 10.1186/s12904-023-01191-8 |2 doi | |
| 028 | 5 | 2 | |a pubmed24n1193.xml |
| 035 | |a (DE-627)NLM358138329 | ||
| 035 | |a (NLM)37312178 | ||
| 040 | |a DE-627 |b ger |c DE-627 |e rakwb | ||
| 041 | |a eng | ||
| 100 | 1 | |a Tong, Eryn |e verfasserin |4 aut | |
| 245 | 1 | 4 | |a The impact of COVID-19 on the experiences of patients and their family caregivers with medical assistance in dying in hospital |
| 264 | 1 | |c 2023 | |
| 336 | |a Text |b txt |2 rdacontent | ||
| 337 | |a ƒaComputermedien |b c |2 rdamedia | ||
| 338 | |a ƒa Online-Ressource |b cr |2 rdacarrier | ||
| 500 | |a Date Completed 15.06.2023 | ||
| 500 | |a Date Revised 16.06.2023 | ||
| 500 | |a published: Electronic | ||
| 500 | |a Citation Status MEDLINE | ||
| 520 | |a © 2023. The Author(s). | ||
| 520 | |a BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and its containment measures have drastically impacted end-of-life and grief experiences globally, including those related to medical assistance in dying (MAiD). No known qualitative studies to date have examined the MAiD experience during the pandemic. This qualitative study aimed to understand how the pandemic impacted the MAiD experience in hospital of persons requesting MAiD (patients) and their loved ones (caregivers) in Canada | ||
| 520 | |a METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients who requested MAiD and their caregivers between April 2020 and May 2021. Participants were recruited during the first year of the pandemic from the University Health Network and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada. Patients and caregivers were interviewed about their experience following the MAiD request. Six months following patient death, bereaved caregivers were interviewed to explore their bereavement experience. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and de-identified. Transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis | ||
| 520 | |a RESULTS: Interviews were conducted with 7 patients (mean [SD] age, 73 [12] years; 5 [63%] women) and 23 caregivers (mean [SD] age, 59 [11] years; 14 [61%] women). Fourteen caregivers were interviewed at the time of MAiD request and 13 bereaved caregivers were interviewed post-MAiD. Four themes were generated with respect to the impact of COVID-19 and its containment measures on the MAiD experience in hospital: (1) accelerating the MAiD decision; (2) compromising family understanding and coping; (3) disrupting MAiD delivery; and (4) appreciating rule flexibility | ||
| 520 | |a CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the tension between respecting pandemic restrictions and prioritizing control over the dying circumstances central to MAiD, and the resulting impact on patient and family suffering. There is a need for healthcare institutions to recognize the relational dimensions of the MAiD experience, particularly in the isolating context of the pandemic. Findings may inform strategies to better support those requesting MAiD and their families during the pandemic and beyond | ||
| 650 | 4 | |a Journal Article | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Assisted dying | |
| 650 | 4 | |a COVID-19 pandemic | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Canada | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Medical assistance in dying | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Qualitative research | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Nissim, Rinat |e verfasserin |4 aut | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Selby, Debbie |e verfasserin |4 aut | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Bean, Sally |e verfasserin |4 aut | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Isenberg-Grzeda, Elie |e verfasserin |4 aut | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Thangarasa, Tharshika |e verfasserin |4 aut | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Rodin, Gary |e verfasserin |4 aut | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Li, Madeline |e verfasserin |4 aut | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Hales, Sarah |e verfasserin |4 aut | |
| 773 | 0 | 8 | |i Enthalten in |t BMC palliative care |d 2002 |g 22(2023), 1 vom: 13. Juni, Seite 70 |w (DE-627)NLM117615072 |x 1472-684X |7 nnns |
| 773 | 1 | 8 | |g volume:22 |g year:2023 |g number:1 |g day:13 |g month:06 |g pages:70 |
| 856 | 4 | 0 | |u http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12904-023-01191-8 |3 Volltext |
| 912 | |a GBV_USEFLAG_A | ||
| 912 | |a GBV_NLM | ||
| 951 | |a AR | ||
| 952 | |d 22 |j 2023 |e 1 |b 13 |c 06 |h 70 | ||