title: Family member involvement in hastened death.
abstract: When patients pursue a hastened death, how is the labor of family care-giving affected? The authors examined this question in a qualitative study of 35 families. Four cases reveal the main themes: "taking care" included mutual protection between patients and family members; "midwifing the death" without professional support left families unprepared for adverse events; "tying up loose ends" included dealing with family members' fear of legal consequences; and "moving ahead" involved a greater risk of complicated grief when families encountered complications during the dying process. These results highlight the positive and negative consequences of family members' participation in a hastened death.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical History and Ethics, University of Washington, Box 357120, Seattle, WA 98195-7240, USA. tigiba@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Helene
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Starks
authors.forename: Anthony L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Back
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Pearlman
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Koenig
authors.forename: Clarissa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Judith R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Ashok J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Bharucha
mesh_terms: D028601:Euthanasia, Active / Q000523:psychology; D005066:Euthanasia, Passive / Q000523:psychology; D005195:Family Relations; D006801:Humans; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000523:psychology; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States