| Policy statements and practice guidelines for medical end-of-life decisions in Dutch health care institutions: developments in the past decade. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 19342116 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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OBJECTIVES: To describe the existence of policy statements on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (EAS) and practice guidelines for all medical end-of-life decisions in Dutch health care institutions in 2005, whether the existence of practice guidelines is related to characteristics of institutions, and to compare the existence of policies in 2005 and 1994. METHODS: Questionnaires were sent to 566 institutions (all Dutch hospitals, nursing homes, general psychiatric hospitals, institutions for the mentally disabled, hospices) from October 2005 through March 2006. RESULTS: Most institutions (70%) had a written policy statement concerning EAS. EAS was usually allowed under specific conditions (75%). Institutions mainly had practice guidelines for EAS and do-not-resuscitate decisions (62% and 63%). A minority had guidelines on palliative sedation (27%), alleviation of symptoms (27%) and withdrawing or withholding treatment (33%). In general, there were more practice guidelines in 2005 than in 1994. Larger institutions and institutions with an ethics committee more often had practice guidelines. Religious affiliation of an institution did not seem to be related to the existence of guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: Since many institutions still do not have practice guidelines for medical end-of-life decisions, they should be stimulated to introduce practice guidelines, being a first step in improving the quality of the care on institutional level. |
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Authors:
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H Roeline W Pasman; Johanna E Hanssen-de Wolf; Berniek A M Hesselink; Agnes van der Heide; Gerrit van der Wal; Paul J van der Maas; Bregje D Onwuteaka-Philipsen |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Date: 2009-04-01 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Health policy (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Volume: 92 ISSN: 0168-8510 ISO Abbreviation: Health Policy Publication Date: 2009 Sep |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2009-07-31 Completed Date: 2010-12-28 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 8409431 Medline TA: Health Policy Country: Ireland |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 79-88 Citation Subset: H |
Affiliation:
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VU University Medical Center, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands. hrw.pasman@vumc.nl |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Health Facilities
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ethics*,
trends Humans Netherlands Organizational Policy* Practice Guidelines as Topic* Questionnaires Resuscitation Orders* Suicide, Assisted* |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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