Only one of the first 15 patients who died under Oregon's assisted suicide law suffered from pain, he notes. Nonetheless, with depression linked more strongly to patients' interest in assisted suicide than pain, Emanuel emphasizes that doctors need to better recognize and treat depression among the terminally ill. Feeling unappreciated and needing significant help with basic daily activities were two other factors that caused patients to consider suicide. Emanuel points out, however, that patients' views on assisted suicide were unstable in general. In his study, half of those who initially considered suicide later changed their minds, and follow-up interviews with other patients revealed support for assisted suicide where there had been none earlier.
Doctors put less emphasis than patients, for instance, on the importance of being mentally aware.
Steinhauser and her co-authors were surprised that dying at home was ranked of low importance among the groups, especially among patients and families. Quality care at the end of life is highly individual and should be achieved through a process of shared decision making. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.