학술논문

"Dying with a Smile, Just Knowing that Somebody's Listened to Me": End-Of-Life Care and Medical Assistance in Dying in Canadian Prisons.
Document Type
Article
Source
Omega: Journal of Death & Dying; Mar2024, Vol. 88 Issue 4, p1290-1313, 24p
Subject
Correctional institutions
Health services accessibility
Caregivers
Autonomy (Psychology)
Decision making
Assisted suicide laws
Euthanasia laws
Palliative treatment laws
Death & psychology
Affinity groups
Health policy
Prison psychology
Social support
Descriptive statistics
Public welfare
Thematic analysis
Canada
Language
ISSN
00302228
Abstract
Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) has been legal in Canada since 2016 and some incarcerated patients who are at the end of their lives are eligible for the procedure. Interviews with nine incarcerated men at a federal penitentiary in Canada provide insight into some of the ways that people who are navigating aging and end-of-life in prison think about MAiD. Interview themes are organized around: experience with death and dying; possibilities and barriers related to applications for release from prison at end-of-life; experiences of peer-caregiving in a prison palliative care program; support for MAiD and the expansion of eligibility criteria; what a good death looks like. Themes are contextualized alongside federal guidelines related to end-of-life care (EOLC) and MAiD for prisoners, highlighting that sound policy requires both generalizable principles and attention to nuance. MAiD rests on patient voluntariness, and thus autonomy over EOLC decisions is paramount for prisoners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]