Requests for Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide (DESA)

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Besancon

Status: Completed

Conditions: Qualitative Research; Assisted Suicide; Euthanasia; End of Life; Palliative Care

Treatments: Other: Qualitative research

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02845817

DESA

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study take place in the palliative care units of Burgundy-Franche-Comté regions and at the Maison Médicale Jeanne Garnier. The main aim of this project is to analyze and understand the meaning of explicit requests to hasten death (euthanasia and assisted suicide).

This involves conducting interviews with patients, carers to whom the request has been expressed and a relative chosen by the patient. This study aims to describe the request over time. This will be done through two series of interviews, one as soon as it is first expressed, then one week later.

Enrollment: 31 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Adult not under guardianship or curatorship,
• Hospitalized in palliative care units of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region and in the Maison Médicale Jeanne Garnier in Paris,
• At the end of life due to advanced stage disease or a major change in the state of health of an elderly person,
• They have made an explicit request for euthanasia or assisted suicide,
• They are in capacity to meet researchers for interview,
• Having consented to interviews,
• They are covered by the French social security system.

Exclusion criteria

• Adult under guardianship or curatorship,
• They are underage,
• They are not hospitalized in Palliative Care Unit of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region and in the Maison Médicale Jeanne Garnier,
• The request was expressed by another person or not explicit,
• They didn't consent to interviews,
• The request appears in the context of a situation other than illness or a general change in state of health
• They are not in capacity to meet researchers for interviews.

Trial design

31 participants in 1 patient group

Qualitative research

Other group

Description:

Semi-structured interviews

Treatment:

Other: Qualitative research