Assessment of society’s readiness for the legalization of еuthanasia, carried out in the field of palliative medicine

Abstract

Aim:To determine the signs of society’s readiness to legalize euthanasia for palliative patients by interviewing both the patients themselves and their relatives (caregivers) and specialists who provide medical, psychological, social and spiritual services at the end-of-life. Materials and Methods:The study was carried out using a sociological method among palliative patients of three regions of Ukraine (Lviv, Kyiv and Kharkiv) on a random sample of 377 people surveyed during 2022–2024. The conducted research confirmed and clarified the previous results with greater reliability. Results: Among the interviewed palliative patients, 60,0% complained of unbearable chronic pain; 69.4% thought about suicide at least once or tried to commit it. At the same time, only 40.3% thought about the possibility of euthanasia (or looked for ways to perform it) (1,7 times less). The prevalence of opinions about the possibility of euthanasia was higher among relatives (caregivers) of palliative patients (47,4%), and lower among those who provide services (30,1%). Among all respondents, suicide was discussed more often than euthanasia 1,5 times more often. And a broad social dialogue on the legalization of euthanasia is considered possible only by a little more than half of the respondents. Conclusions: Ukrainian society is not ready for a broad dialogue about the need to legalize euthanasia, which actually means the continuation of the suffering of a significant number of palliative patients who do not receive adequate pain relief and most do not have the financial opportunity to use euthanasia tourism.