Initial Research
We first started our initial research about death in general, since we did not have a good understanding about underlying issues and opportunities regarding death. Initially, we wanted to explore this area broadly, so we tried to looked for any interesting topics regarding death by reading articles about end of life mindsets and watching Popo’s grandmother’s TED talk about good quality of death. From here we were able to find out about the elements that make a good death.
Interesting Findings from the TED talk
The following are the four elements that the patient must have in order to have a good death:
- The Body- No physical pain or make it as least as possible.
2. The Mind- No worry, no anger, no frustrations, no fear
3. Social or relationships with the relatives including beliefs, resolving any existing conflicts. So that they don’t wait, no anxiety, no worry. They must achieve happiness, tranquility, and let go of material things and emotion. That means letting go of the mind the body and the relationships.
4. The Soul
According to Popo’s grandmother, the four elements enable patients to achieve peace and lead to having good quality of death
Interesting problem areas about death
Euthenesia
Three conditions of euthanasia:
The person seeking death
(1) is terminally ill
(2) is in intense pain
(3) voluntarily chooses to end his life to escape prolonged suffering
Distinction:
Suicide: When one actively kills oneself/ self-killing
Assisted death / assisted suicide: Where a third party provides a person with the resources to carry out his or her death.
Euthanasia: When the third party actually performs the death-causing act, and not the person himself who is seeking to die
Active vs Passive Euthanasia:
Active euthanasia is where a third-party performs a consciously overt action that brings about the death of the person. In a clinical setting, a doctor might actively perform euthanasia by administering a lethal dose of drugs to the patient, through pills or an injection.
Passive euthanasia is when the third party allows the patient to die by:
(1) not intervening with a treatment at all
(2) discontinuing a treatment when the situation is futile
Voluntary vs Non-voluntary Euthanasia:
Voluntary euthanasia is when a competent adult requests or gives informed consent to a particular death-causing action
Non-voluntary euthanasia is when the third party makes the decision due to the person does not have the mental competence to make these decisions, such as when they are unconscious, delirious, or demented
3 Definitions of Death:
- The first and most accepted one today is the neurological theory which maintains that brain death constitutes the real death of the person. On this view, death occurs for a person when he or she fails to engage in the surrounding world, and brain death is a sign that this has occurred.
- Second is the two deaths theory, which holds that the death of a person’s conscious processes is distinct from the death of the person’s body. In essence, the death of your brain could occur while your body remains fully alive. The problem with this approach is that it is to unconventional: we do not think about people as going through two deaths, and, throughout human history we have understood death to be a single event.
- Third is the bodily integration theory, which is that the overall integrity of the body rather than the condition of the brain that determines whether the person is dead. Many biological mechanisms in brain dead people remain active, such as the ability to maintain bodily temperature, heal wounds, and fight infection. Brain dead people grow with age and reach sexual maturity.
What general public in the U.S. think about Euthanasia:
Euthanasia in Netherlands
In The Netherlands, euthanasia comprises 2.1% of all deaths annually (the vast majority are among patients with cancer). The primary reason given (in The Netherlands) for choosing euthanasia is “a loss of dignity.”
Similar practice in U.S.
The related practice of physician-assisted suicide (when a physician provides either equipment or medication or informs the patient of the most efficacious use of already available means for the purpose of assisting the patient to end his or her own life)3 has been legal in the state of Oregon since 1997
Patients who chose physician-assisted suicide tended to be divorced or never married, had higher levels of education, and were likely to be dying of malignant cancer (83% in 2005).
According to physicians surveyed, the most frequently mentioned reasons for requesting physician-assisted suicide were a decreasing ability to participate in pleasurable activities, the loss of dignity, and the loss of autonomy.The paradox of modern medicine
Paradox of Modern Medicine
The paradox of modern medicine is that people are living longer, and yet doing so with more disease. Death is rarely either quick or painless. Often it is traumatic.
But too few terminally ill people are asked what matters most to them. In the rich world most people die in a hospital or nursing home, often after pointless, aggressive treatment. Many die alone, confused and in pain.
And sometimes, even when relatives know a loved one’s wishes, they cannot make sure they are granted. Between 12% and 24% of those who had lost someone close to them said that the patient’s wishes had not been carried out. Between 25% and 38% said that friends or family had experienced needless pain. Across the whole survey most people rated the quality of end-of-life care as “fair” or “poor”.
Tremendous amount of stress physicians go through
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1764532/
Caring for the dying patient is among the most challenging clinical tasks a physician faces. Physicians take great pains to alleviate suffering and are trained to prolong life — especially when a satisfactory quality of life can be maintained.
StoryCorps
Kristin suggested us to check out StoryCorps, a website that many people post their interviews regarding various topics. We were able to find interviews, with people who were experiencing the end of life period, mostly conducted by their family members.
Insights:
- People generally try to stay positive; even though they are going through tough times
- Care taking is stressful, affecting caretakers’ physical and mental health
- Many people have found their own ways to cope with death(we think that this could be biased as only people who are comfortable enough would share their stories)
- All of the people wants to be remember as a “good person”
