Role and involvement of life end information forum physicians in euthanasia and other end-of-life care decisions in Flanders, Belgium.
OBJECTIVE
To describe role and involvement of Life End Information Forum (LEIF) physicians in end-of-life care decisions and euthanasia in Flanders.


METHODS
All 132 LEIF physicians in Belgium received a questionnaire inquiring about their activities in the past year, and their end-of-life care training and experience.


RESULTS
Response rate was 75 percent. Most respondents followed substantive training in end-of-life care. In 1 year, LEIF physicians were contacted 612 times for consultations in end-of-life decisions, of which 355 concerned euthanasia requests eventually resulting in 221 euthanasia cases. LEIF physicians also gave information about various end-of-life issues (including palliative care) to patients and colleagues.


CONCLUSIONS
LEIF physicians provide a forum for information and advice for physicians and patients. A similar health service providing support to physicians for all end-of-life decisions could also be beneficial for countries without a euthanasia law.
Van Wesemael
Yanna
Y
End-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 103, Brussels, Belgium.
Cohen
Joachim
J
Onwuteaka-Philipsen
Bregje D
BD
Bilsen
Johan
J
Distelmans
Wim
W
Deliens
Luc
L
D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001530:Belgium; D003657:Decision Making; D005065:Euthanasia; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010819:Physician's Role; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019452:Terminally Ill