title: The public's viewpoint on the right to hastened death in Alberta, Canada: findings from a population survey study.
abstract: A research study was conducted to determine public opinion in Alberta, a Canadian province, on the controversial topic of death hastening. Questions on the right to hastened death, end-of-life plans and end-of-life experiences were included in the Population Research Laboratory's annual 2010 health-care telephone survey, with 1203 adults providing results relatively representative of Albertans. Of all 1203, 72.6% said yes to the question: 'Should dying adults be able to request and get help from others to end their life early, in other words, this is a request for assisted suicide'? Among all who provided an answer, 36.8% indicated 'yes, every competent adult should have this right' and 40.6% indicated 'yes, but it should be allowed only in certain cases or situations'. Over 50% of respondents in all but one socio-demographic population sub-group (Religious-other) were supportive of the right to hastened death. However, multinomial regression analysis revealed that the experiences of deciding to euthanise a pet/animal and developing or planning to develop an advance directive predicted support, while self-reported religiosity predicted non-support. Finding majority public support for death hastening suggests that legalisation could potentially occur in the future; but with this policy first requiring a careful consideration of the model of assisted suicide or euthanasia that best protects people who are highly vulnerable to despair and suffering near the end of life.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. donna.wilson@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Donna M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Birch
authors.forename: Rod
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: MacLeod
authors.forename: Nurin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dhanji
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Osei-Waree
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000416:Alberta; D033101:Euthanasia, Active, Voluntary; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011639:Public Opinion; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult