Diversity and Access to Palliative Care and Medical Assistance in Dying in an Urban Setting

Bibliographic Data

ID13629445
AuthorsFortin (0000-0001-6504-5582, Université de Montréal, corresponding author), Sabrina Lessard (0000-0002-8917-0270, Université de Montréal), Marie-Ève Samson (0009-0007-0004-2349, Université de Montréal)
Year2024
Volume93
Issue1
Pages297-316
Publication date2024-03-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00302228241237834
PMID38448056
OpenAlexW4392756647
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited35

This article focuses on the end-of-life experiences of migrants and non-migrants from young to old, who died in a Canadian cosmopolitan city in the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on interviews with over one hundred relatives of as many deceased, the authors discuss end of life issues, namely access to palliative care and medical assistance in dying. The data indicate unequal access to care at the intersection of several factors, including type of disease, patient's age, uncertainty of their prognosis, and migrant/non-migrant status. While being young and having cancer were undeniably associated with the provision of care (curative and palliative), those who did not benefit from palliative care tended to be social minorities in the local society and suffered from diseases with ambiguous prognosis. The right to "Die with dignity" is fundamental, with or without palliative care and regardless of where the end of life takes place

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Dignity · Disease · Diversity (politics · End-of-life care · Family medicine · Palliative care · Pandemic · Political science · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Law · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma · Nursing · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues · Gerontology