Include diverse views in end-of-life policies
June 1, 1999
Include diverse views in end-of-life policies
Just over half of survey respondents ages 60 to 90 said they would choose to live even if they developed a serious or incurable health condition. The end-of-life decision-making survey of 137 women and 63 men asked what decisions they would make if faced with any of 17 incurable or terminal conditions. Researcher Victor G. Cicirelli, MD, affiliated with Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, presented the findings at the Gerontological Society of America conference in Philadelphia last November.
Respondents, consisting largely of blue-collar backgrounds and strong religious beliefs, were given seven choices: trying to maintain life, refusing treatment, withdrawing treatment, letting someone close to them decide, suicide, assisted suicide, or letting the physician decide to end life.
While 51% favored trying to live regardless of the situation, 40% said they wanted others to make end-of-life decisions for them. Only about 10% indicated a willingness to end their lives if little quality of life was the prognosis, noted Cicirelli. Public policy about end-of-life care should allow for differing viewpoints among the elderly, he added.
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