End of Life

123 articles:
by Blair Bigham

An Excerpt from Death Interrupted

Chapter 5 of Death Interrupted: "Declaring Death: Who Decides When the End Has Arrived?"

by Maddi Dellplain ... ...

Interview with the author: Blair Bigham

Healthy Debate sat down with Dr. Blair Bigham to talk about his experience writing Death Interrupted.

by Maddi Dellplain ... ...

The right to die: Should MAiD apply to those whose sole condition is mental illness?

With the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to include those whose sole condition is mental illness fast approaching, we asked a panel of experts whether they felt this was a move in the right direction — and what they hope to see moving forward.

by Darren Cargill

On mentors: Honouring the legacy of a palliative care specialist

Gone but not forgotten: Darren Cargill honours his mentor in palliative care, Ciaran Sheehan, for National Hospice and Palliative Care Week.

by Alexandra Campbell

Advance care planning? Your future self might not thank you

Advance care planning takes for granted that any wishes about my care that I made in advance should guide the treatment I get when I'm incapacitated. But what if they actually shouldn't – because when incapacitated, I'm not the same person?

by Meera Mahendiran

Mental health and MAID: An ongoing challenge

Parliament is looking into offering MAiD to people whose only underlying condition is a mental illness. But this might be premature. After all, shouldn't we first improve mental health care in Canada?

by Anna Neely Justine Giosa Paul Holyoke Hana Irving

Healing through community: Reflecting on collective grief from COVID-19

We are grieving loss of life on a mass scale at a time when pandemic restrictions have disrupted our customary death rituals and traditions. Could an initiative called The Reflection Room help LTC residents and others cope with their grief?

by Rachel Watts

‘A second layer of loss’: Pandemic has changed how we grieve for our loved ones

For many people grieving the loss of a loved one during COVID-19, public-health restrictions on death-related rituals like funerals have created a "second layer of loss," taking an emotional and spiritual toll.

by Larry W. Chambers Madeleine Smith

New MAiD legislation calls for the wise words of a pioneer

The new MAiD law should provoke reflection about our own attitudes toward death. A place to start is a wise 12-minute video produced by a prominent geriatrician shortly before his own medically assisted death.

by Helen Senderovich Briam Jimenez Lopez

Why choose palliative care?

You may assume that palliative care is synonymous with end-of-life or hospice care. Our goal is to eliminate this common misconception.

by Gali Katznelson

MAiD debate must be paused until we have dealt with COVID-19

Rather than rushing to amend our Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) law, Parliament should be focused on expanding access to social services.

by Peter Allatt

The timing could hardly be worse

You want to introduce fundamental change to a controversial practice during a pandemic? Bill C-7 will become law while every healthcare organization in the country is swamped by the worst crisis in living memory.

by Darren Cargill

Giving thanks for Dan’s Law

by Sarina R. Isenberg Stephanie Saunders Maya Stern Ramona Mahtani

Raising the bar on our haphazard end-of-life transition from hospital to home

by Sarina R. Isenberg Amy T. Hsu

What are we willing to pay for the quality of death we want?

by Nikita Arora

‘Tell me it will be OK:’ Learning to deal with patients’ pain

As a surgical resident, a huge part of my job is, unexpectedly, palliation. But I’ve never received training on how to do it. Am I doing it right? I wonder.

by Kelli Stajduhar Denise S. Cloutier

Not scared of dying but of dying scared

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