THE terminally ill who are well-supported and have talked about dying are less likely to contemplate euthanasia, a Warrnambool Parliamentary hearing into end of life choices heard this week.
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Legal and Social Issues Committee and Australian Sex Party member Fiona Patten posed the question of whether euthanasia should be part of the “toolbox” when it came to end of life decisions.
Warrnambool and District Community Hospice vice-president Deidre Bidmade said fear of the unknown was often the major concern.
“The biggest factor when someone is dying is ‘how am I going to die? Is my pain going to be out of control?’ These conversations before someone is in the last phase of dying are so important,” she said.
“If you can give people peace of mind that they are supported in that journey and that there is no need for acceleration of symptoms that, in my experience, has been most of the underlying issues.”
Palliative care volunteer and hospice board member Damian Goss said at-home support for patients and their carers made considering euthanasia less likely. “When they get that level of support then it’s (euthanasia) not something that is high on the list. I suspect with this type of help it will go further down the list,” he said.
“Once people learn to talk about the process of end of life and they make those decisions… that too will help people in many, many ways and I think it (euthanasia) becomes less of a proposition.” Mr Goss said with help from carers and volunteers, the terminally ill could continue enjoying life.
"It really makes life worthwhile, instead of just waiting for death to come they were living to the end,” he said of his volunteering experiences.
Warrnambool’s state-first hospice in the home program provides free overnight and weekend care from trained volunteers to assist carers to help their loved ones die at home.
Currently, the service is limited to Warrnambool, but Ms Bidmade said once it was more established, there were hopes it could be expanded.
“We really want to take this out to everybody but we want to do this absolutely right,” she said. Ms Patten had high praise for the program.
"I hope we see this replicated in lots of other areas,” she said.
Thursday’s public hearing was part of the panel's tour to locations across the state to asses current practices, review current legislation and investigate whether changes to legislation should be made.
