Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying Programme
Lessons from Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying programme - One nurse’s perspective
January 17 2020
On January 13th 2020, Caroline Variath presented an overview of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada. Caroline is a PhD student (collaborative in nursing and bioethics) at the University of Toronto and a member of the faculty at the University of New Brunswick & Humber College Bachelor of Nursing program in Canada. She has worked clinically for 16 years in acute and critical care settings. Her doctoral research examines the loss of capacity to consent and its impact on accessing MAID in Canada. In her talk, “Lessons from Canada’s MAID programme” Caroline described the details of the Canadian MAID legislation as well as her experiences as a member of the team providing MAID. An overview of global experiences of family members and health care providers with MAID, was also presented. Challenges that remain since the Canadian legalisation of MAID in 2016 were highlighted including access to MAID for mature minors, adults with mental disorders, and adults who have lost capacity to provide consent as well as the issue of advance requests for MAID.
To learn more, listen to Caroline’s full presentation and/or download the PowerPoint presentation: