Möjligheten att välja sin egen död

: En litteraturstudie om eutanasi

Abstract

Background: Euthanasia isn’t legal in Sweden but the topic is relevant in the social debate. However, in the Netherlands, where euthanasia is legalized, statistics show that in 2019 6092 people were granted euthanasia and a majority of these suffered from a terminal illness. In Sweden people with terminal illnesses are treated with palliative care. Palliative care strives to ease symptoms and enhance quality of life for the patient. The person-centered care emanates from a holistic view on the human where the patient is seen as a person, not their illness. The work nurses do is grounded in a holistic view which presupposes the understanding of patients’ attitudes and feelings. Therefore, the aim for this study became to illustrate terminally ill patients attitudes on euthanasia.
Method: A qualitative literature study on eight articles found in the databases Cinahl Complete and PubMed. Articles were reviewed and analyzed with HKR’s review template and Friberg’s analysis model.
Results: The study resulted in three categories Suffering, Fear and Control. Suffering has Pain and Burden as subcategories. Fear has Worry and Course of the disease as subcategories. Control has Suicide, Purpose, Loss-of-self and Influence of religion as subcategories.
Conclusion: This study shows that the attitude toward euthanasia is varied, complex and that there isn’t a simple answer. The results show a variation of attitudes and feelings that originate from different forms of physical, psychological and existential suffering. The study found both fears for the consequences that euthanasia could bring and reliefs of the possibility for euthanasia.

Date of Award	2023-May
Original language	Swedish
Supervisor	Anna-Karin Edvinsson (Supervisor) & Elisabet Rothenberg (Examiner)