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      La prestación de ayuda a morir en el contexto del deseo de anticipar la muerte Translated title: The provision of assisted death in the context of the desire to anticipate death

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          Abstract

          La entrada en vigor de la Ley Orgánica de Regulación de la Eutanasia en junio de 2021 obliga a los clínicos a un replanteamiento de su quehacer profesional ante una nueva prestación que expande los límites de lo que hasta ahora se iba considerando correcto. Una nueva prestación que recae en todo el sistema sanitario, pero especialmente sobre los profesionales de atención primaria. Más allá de los aspectos procedimentales y de tipo moral, es necesario replantearse la valoración del paciente que expresa su deseo de morir. En esta revisión partimos de la relativamente reciente definición de deseo de anticipar la muerte (DAM), sus causas, la epidemiologia y el diagnóstico diferencial; se profundiza en los diferentes marcos mentales que se encuentran en el proceso de morir y en el concepto de «buena muerte», y finalmente se analizan los caminos que pueden llevarnos a la prestación de ayuda a morir en el marco de la legislación actual. El DAM es específico de las peticiones en caso de «enfermedad grave y avanzada», no en los otros supuestos contemplados por la Ley. Ante una petición de activar la prestación de ayuda a morir en el contexto de DAM, es decir, en proximidad de muerte, sería necesario procurar aumentar la sensación de control por parte del paciente, empezar a trabajar el duelo y, ante un proceso administrativo que va a ser necesariamente largo, contemplar la adecuación del esfuerzo terapéutico y la sedación como opciones posibles. Entendemos que es fundamental no crear falsas expectativas a pacientes/familiares y no sobrecargar a los profesionales con tareas administrativas que probablemente serán fútiles. Un equilibrio difícil ante la petición de acceso a un derecho al que el paciente siempre debe poder acceder.

          Translated abstract

          The entry into force of the Organic Law on the Regulation of Euthanasia in June 2021 obliges clinicians to reconsider their professional work, in the face of a new service that expands the limits of what was considered correct until then. This new service affects the entire healthcare system, but especially primary care professionals. Beyond the procedural and moral aspects, it is necessary to rethink the assessment of the patient who expresses a wish to die. In this review, we start with the relatively recent definition of the wish to hasten death (WTHD), its causes, epidemiology and differential diagnosis. Then, we examine the different mental frameworks found in the process of dying and the concept of a «good death». Finally, we analyse the paths that can lead to the provision of aid in dying within the framework of current legislation. The WTHD is specific to requests in case of «serious and advanced illness», not in other cases contemplated by the Law. When faced with a request to activate the Aid in Dying Prestation in the context of WTHD (that is, in the proximity of death), it becomes necessary to increase the patient's sense of control and begin to work on grief. Besides, in the face of an administrative process that will necessarily be long, adapting the therapeutic efforts and sedation should be considered as possible options. We understand that it is essential not to create false expectations for patients/families and not to overload healthcare professionals with administrative tasks that will be futile. It is difficult to balance these in the face of a request for a right to which the patient should always have access.

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          Desire for death in the terminally ill.

          Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide have become prominent medical and social issues. This study investigated the prevalence of the desire for death in terminally ill patients, the stability of this desire over time, and its association with psychiatric disorders. Two hundred terminally ill inpatients were given semistructured interviews that assessed their desire for death and evaluated them for major and minor depressive episodes according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria. Each patient also completed a short form of the Beck Depression Inventory and provided ratings of pain and social support. When possible, patients who expressed a desire for death received a follow-up interview after a 2-week interval. Although occasional wishes that death would come soon were common (reported by 44.5% of the patients), only 17 (8.5%) of these individuals acknowledged a serious and pervasive desire to die. The desire for death was correlated with ratings of pain and low family support but most significantly with measures of depression. The prevalence of diagnosed depressive syndromes was 58.8% among patients with a desire to die and 7.7% among patients without such a desire. Follow-up interviews were conducted with six patients; in four cases, the desire to die had decreased during the 2-week interval. The desire for death in terminally ill patients is closely associated with clinical depression--a potentially treatable condition--and can also decrease over time. Informed debate about euthanasia should recognize the importance of psychiatric considerations, as well as the inherent transience of many patients' expressed desire to die.
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            A systematic review of the demoralization syndrome in individuals with progressive disease and cancer: a decade of research.

            Demoralization can be understood as a condition that results from existential conflict. It presents with symptoms of hopelessness and helplessness caused by a loss of purpose and meaning in life. It is a significant mental health concern given there can be an associated desire for hastened death.
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              What Lies behind the Wish to Hasten Death? A Systematic Review and Meta-Ethnography from the Perspective of Patients

              Background There is a need for an in-depth approach to the meaning of the wish to hasten death (WTHD). This study aims to understand the experience of patients with serious or incurable illness who express such a wish. Methods and Findings Systematic review and meta-ethnography of qualitative studies from the patient's perspective. Studies were identified through six databases (ISI, PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, CUIDEN and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials), together with citation searches and consultation with experts. Finally, seven studies reporting the experiences of 155 patients were included. The seven-stage Noblit and Hare approach was applied, using reciprocal translation and line-of-argument synthesis. Six main themes emerged giving meaning to the WTHD: WTHD in response to physical/psychological/spiritual suffering, loss of self, fear of dying, the desire to live but not in this way, WTHD as a way of ending suffering, and WTHD as a kind of control over one's life (‘having an ace up one's sleeve just in case’). An explanatory model was developed which showed the WTHD to be a reactive phenomenon: a response to multidimensional suffering, rather than only one aspect of the despair that may accompany this suffering. According to this model the factors that lead to the emergence of WTHD are total suffering, loss of self and fear, which together produce an overwhelming emotional distress that generates the WTHD as a way out, i.e. to cease living in this way and to put an end to suffering while maintaining some control over the situation. Conclusions The expression of the WTHD in these patients is a response to overwhelming emotional distress and has different meanings, which do not necessarily imply a genuine wish to hasten one's death. These meanings, which have a causal relationship to the phenomenon, should be taken into account when drawing up care plans.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Aten Primaria
                Aten Primaria
                Atencion Primaria
                Elsevier
                0212-6567
                1578-1275
                27 March 2024
                September 2024
                27 March 2024
                : 56
                : 9
                : 102895
                Affiliations
                [a ]Programa d’Atenció Domiciliària, Equip de Suport (PADES). Servei d’Atenció Primària Vallès Oriental, Institut Català de la Salut, Granollers, Barcelona, España
                [b ]Unitat de Suport a la Recerca Metropolitana Nord, Institut Universitari d’Investigació en Atenció Primària (IDIAP Jordi Gol), Mataró, Barcelona, España
                [c ]Instituto de Investigación en Atención Primaria Jordi Gol, Barcelona, España
                Author notes
                [* ]Autor para correspondencia. xbusquet@ 123456umanresa.cat
                Article
                S0212-6567(24)00037-4 102895
                10.1016/j.aprim.2024.102895
                11401545
                38537602
                d21df7b7-d37e-433b-8df3-164c4fb8a597
                © 2024 The Author(s)

                This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

                History
                : 25 October 2023
                : 3 January 2024
                Categories
                Artículo Especial

                deseo de morir,deseo de adelantar la muerte,medicina de familia,bioética,eutanasia,wish to die,wish to hasten death,general practice,bioethics,euthanasia

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