Nissim, Rinat, Lo, Chris, and Rodin, Gary (2015) The desire for hastened death in patients in palliative care. In: Rehmann-Sutter, Christoph, Gudat, Heike, and Ohnsorge, Kathrin, (eds.) The Patient's Wish to Die: research, ethics, and palliative care. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, pp. 71-80.

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Abstract

Research on the desire for hastened death (DHD) has important implications for improving quality of life near the end of life. Although it may be multiply determined, DHD is most often assessed in quantitative studies as a unidimensional variable. This chapter describes a mixed-methods study involving 406 ambulatory patients with advanced cancer. The incidence of DHD was assessed with the Schedule of Attitudes Toward Hastened Death, and its meaning was explored in qualitative interviews with a subset of 27 participants. DHD was found to be relatively uncommon and three distinct categories of DHD were identified in the qualitative data: DHD as a hypothetical exit plan; as an expression of despair; and as a manifestation of accepting death or ‘letting go’. A factor analysis conrmed this model. These findings suggest that the DHD has multiple meanings, which has important implications for theory, clinical intervention, and social policy.

Item ID:	86529
Item Type:	Book Chapter (Research - B1)
ISBN:	9780191782268
Copyright Information:	© Oxford University Press 2015
Date Deposited:	13 Aug 2025 01:25
FoR Codes:	42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420316 Palliative care @ 50% 32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3202 Clinical sciences > 320221 Psychiatry (incl. psychotherapy) @ 50%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200499 Public health (excl. specific population health) not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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