Apr 14, 2022
This episode features Professor Raymond Voltz, Kathleen Boström
and Dr Kerstin Kremeike (Department of Palliative Medicine, Faculty
of Medicine and University Hospital, University of Cologne,
Cologne, Germany.
Patients in palliative care frequently express a desire to die that
rarely leads to a request for medical aid in dying. Fearing to
cause harm, health professionals report uncertainty regarding
proactively approaching the topic with their
patients. Suicidology research suggests that there is no
iatrogenic risk in asking about suicidality, but it remains unclear
whether this analogy holds for non-psychiatric palliative patients
with or without a desire to die.
Independent of age, gender, diagnoses, and current desire to die,
open conversations about desire to die through trained health
professionals do not harm palliative patients. Desire to die
conversations might lead to an at least temporary improvement in
patients with medium to severe depression.
Health professionals can feel encouraged to promote an open and
respectful atmosphere of conversation about existential issues at
the end of life including possible desire to die.