Medical social workers from health care institutions in the urban lower mainland
of British Columbia were asked about their views, values and
practice regarding passive and active euthanasia. This qualitative,
exploratory study focused on the attitudes, values and structures that
influence professional social work practice with clients requesting
euthanasia. During the months of August to November, 1994, seventeen
medical social workers, who were experienced in this area, were interviewed.
An interview guide format was used that was previously tested in a pilot study
of this project. Within the pre-selected categories; views, values and practice,
responses were described and emerging themes were identified through
content analysis. The study results confirm medical social workers are
playing an active professional role with terminally-ill patients, families and
staff when requests are made for euthanasia in the health care system. In
this study population, in most cases, the social worker's views, whether for or
against euthanasia, did not determine his/her practice with patients. Instead,
it was the social worker's willingness to give up his/her control in the
patient/professional relationship in an effort to support the patient's decision
to die with dignity. This practice was based on the value of patient self-determination
being paramount against all other interests. Self-determination
was ranked as the most influential factor in determining practice by most of
the participants. Responses revealed there was a lack of understanding by
health care professionals at all levels regarding the process of separating
personal values from the professional obligation to respect patient self-determination.
Feminist medical ethics suggests that all health care
professionals need to engage in self-evaluation to address any need they
may have for power and control in the professional/patient relationship.
Furthermore, medical social workers should recognize their own such needs,
particularly when their personal views and values come into conflict with a
patient's decision regarding euthanasia. This study not only presents the
issues of power and control that social workers and other health care professsionals experience in the medical system, it also explores and
describes the contributions social workers have made in their practice with
patients who request the right to die with dignity. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/3717 |
| Date | January 1900 |
| Creators | Marshall, Carolyn Louise |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 5570880 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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