“I haven’t had to bare my soul but now I kind of have to”: describing how voluntary assisted dying conscientious objectors anticipated approaching conversations with patients in Victoria, Australia

Abstract Background Dealing with end of life is challenging for patients and health professionals alike. The situation becomes even more challenging when a patient requests a legally permitted medical service that a health professional is unable to provide due to a conflict of conscience. Such a sce...

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Autores principales:	Casey Michelle Haining, Louise Anne Keogh
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	BMC 2021
Materias:	Voluntary assisted dying Conscientious objection Bioethics Health professionals Qualitative research Medical philosophy. Medical ethics R723-726
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/5081475a5dcf486fa8e0a31f0f16c969
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:5081475a5dcf486fa8e0a31f0f16c9692021-11-14T12:05:46Z“I haven’t had to bare my soul but now I kind of have to”: describing how voluntary assisted dying conscientious objectors anticipated approaching conversations with patients in Victoria, Australia10.1186/s12910-021-00717-01472-6939https://doaj.org/article/5081475a5dcf486fa8e0a31f0f16c9692021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-021-00717-0https://doaj.org/toc/1472-6939Abstract Background Dealing with end of life is challenging for patients and health professionals alike. The situation becomes even more challenging when a patient requests a legally permitted medical service that a health professional is unable to provide due to a conflict of conscience. Such a scenario arises when Victorian health professionals, with a conscientious objection (CO) to voluntary assisted dying (VAD), are presented with patients who request VAD or merely ask about VAD. The Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) recognizes the inherent conflict of conscience that may arise for some health professionals when asked to provide VAD and responds by affording broad protection to conscientious objectors who wish to refuse to take part in the VAD process. Methods Seventeen semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with Victorian health professionals with a self-identified CO to VAD in the lead-up to the implementation of VAD in Victoria. Interviews explored how participants anticipated they would manage their CO in practice. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically. Results Our results reveal that the way in which health professionals claimed they would approach CO conversations is variable and was dependant on the strength of their opposition to VAD. We categorized conscientious objectors according to their approach as either dissuasive non-referrers, passive non-referrers, facilitators or negotiators. Our study also explores the perceived difficulties of exercising one’s CO as identified by our participants. Conclusion The broad protection offered by the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) encourages a range of behaviors from conscientious objectors, due to the minimal obligations imposed. In order to assist conscientious objectors, more policy, institutional guidance, and education needs to be available to conscientious objectors explicitly addressing how to effectively manage one’s CO. Such guidance is imperative to ensuring that their moral integrity is preserved and that they are exercising their CO appropriately.Casey Michelle HainingLouise Anne KeoghBMCarticleVoluntary assisted dyingConscientious objectionBioethicsHealth professionalsQualitative researchMedical philosophy. Medical ethicsR723-726ENBMC Medical Ethics, Vol 22, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Voluntary assisted dying Conscientious objection Bioethics Health professionals Qualitative research Medical philosophy. Medical ethics R723-726
spellingShingle	Voluntary assisted dying Conscientious objection Bioethics Health professionals Qualitative research Medical philosophy. Medical ethics R723-726 Casey Michelle Haining Louise Anne Keogh “I haven’t had to bare my soul but now I kind of have to”: describing how voluntary assisted dying conscientious objectors anticipated approaching conversations with patients in Victoria, Australia
description	Abstract Background Dealing with end of life is challenging for patients and health professionals alike. The situation becomes even more challenging when a patient requests a legally permitted medical service that a health professional is unable to provide due to a conflict of conscience. Such a scenario arises when Victorian health professionals, with a conscientious objection (CO) to voluntary assisted dying (VAD), are presented with patients who request VAD or merely ask about VAD. The Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) recognizes the inherent conflict of conscience that may arise for some health professionals when asked to provide VAD and responds by affording broad protection to conscientious objectors who wish to refuse to take part in the VAD process. Methods Seventeen semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with Victorian health professionals with a self-identified CO to VAD in the lead-up to the implementation of VAD in Victoria. Interviews explored how participants anticipated they would manage their CO in practice. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically. Results Our results reveal that the way in which health professionals claimed they would approach CO conversations is variable and was dependant on the strength of their opposition to VAD. We categorized conscientious objectors according to their approach as either dissuasive non-referrers, passive non-referrers, facilitators or negotiators. Our study also explores the perceived difficulties of exercising one’s CO as identified by our participants. Conclusion The broad protection offered by the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) encourages a range of behaviors from conscientious objectors, due to the minimal obligations imposed. In order to assist conscientious objectors, more policy, institutional guidance, and education needs to be available to conscientious objectors explicitly addressing how to effectively manage one’s CO. Such guidance is imperative to ensuring that their moral integrity is preserved and that they are exercising their CO appropriately.
format	article
author	Casey Michelle Haining Louise Anne Keogh
author_facet	Casey Michelle Haining Louise Anne Keogh
author_sort	Casey Michelle Haining
title	“I haven’t had to bare my soul but now I kind of have to”: describing how voluntary assisted dying conscientious objectors anticipated approaching conversations with patients in Victoria, Australia
title_short	“I haven’t had to bare my soul but now I kind of have to”: describing how voluntary assisted dying conscientious objectors anticipated approaching conversations with patients in Victoria, Australia
title_full	“I haven’t had to bare my soul but now I kind of have to”: describing how voluntary assisted dying conscientious objectors anticipated approaching conversations with patients in Victoria, Australia
title_fullStr	“I haven’t had to bare my soul but now I kind of have to”: describing how voluntary assisted dying conscientious objectors anticipated approaching conversations with patients in Victoria, Australia
title_full_unstemmed	“I haven’t had to bare my soul but now I kind of have to”: describing how voluntary assisted dying conscientious objectors anticipated approaching conversations with patients in Victoria, Australia
title_sort	“i haven’t had to bare my soul but now i kind of have to”: describing how voluntary assisted dying conscientious objectors anticipated approaching conversations with patients in victoria, australia
publisher	BMC
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/5081475a5dcf486fa8e0a31f0f16c969
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“I haven’t had to bare my soul but now I kind of have to”: describing how voluntary assisted dying conscientious objectors anticipated approaching conversations with patients in Victoria, Australia

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