Deciding For When You Can’t Decide: The Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic)

Hempton, Courtney; Bhatia, Neera

doi:10.1007/s11673-020-09960-3

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…It is likely that SDMs would be more likely to advocate on behalf of the person regarding treatment preferences or use legal recourse (such as a tribunal) if they are aware of existing legislation that will support them in this process. 41 However, this study found low awareness of ACP, limited engagement with ACP behaviours (such as discussing or documenting medical treatment preferences) and low to moderate SDM knowledge in the sample overall, suggesting these may be problematic. Nonetheless, participants in our study with ACP or SDM experience answered significantly more SDM knowledge questions correctly than those without these experiences, which suggests participating in such activities may improve a person's knowledge regarding the SDM role and the laws that underpin it.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Public knowledge, preferences and experiences about medical substitute decision-making: a national cross-sectional survey

Sellars

Tran

Nolte

et al. 2021

BMJ Support Palliat Care

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ObjectiveTo describe the Australian adult public’s knowledge and experiences regarding substitute decision-making for medical decisions and their preferences for obtaining information about the substitute decision-maker (SDM) role.MethodsThis is a national cross-sectional online survey of the Australian adult public. The survey examined participants’ advance care planning (ACP) awareness and experience, SDM experiences and preferences for obtaining more information about SDM, and participant knowledge about SDM.ResultsOf 1586 people who opened the survey, 1120 (70.6%) were included in the final sample. 13% (n=142) of participants indicated they had acted as an SDM. A median score of two correct responses out of five showed low to moderate knowledge about the SDM role among all participants, with only 33% reporting awareness of SDM laws existing in Australia. While most (59%) participants ranked a health professional as their preferred source of obtaining information about supporting SDMs, few participants who had been an SDM (n=64, 45%) reported obtaining any support in making medical decisions. The median SDM knowledge scores for people who had discussed ACP (3.0 vs 2.0, U=1 45 222, z=6.910, p<0.001), documented their ACP preferences (3.0 vs 2.0, U=71 984, z=4.087, p<0.001) or acted in the SDM role (3.0 vs 2.0, U=56 353, z=−3.694, p<0.001) were significantly higher compared with those who had not.ConclusionsThe Australian public may have low to moderate knowledge about the SDM role and access only minimal support when making challenging medical decisions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Public knowledge, preferences and experiences about medical substitute decision-making: a national cross-sectional survey

Sellars

Tran

Nolte

et al. 2021

BMJ Support Palliat Care

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“…The disease, illness, or medical condition must also be causing suffering that cannot be relieved in a way the patient themselves considers tolerable. The patient must be assessed to have decision-making capacity in relation to VAD; in Victoria it is not possible to request access to VAD in an advance care directive (48). The patient must be aged 18 years or over, have lived in Victoria for at least one year before making a first request for VAD, and be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.…”

Section: The Victorian Model Of Voluntary Assisted Dyingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voluntary assisted dying in the Australian state of Victoria: an overview of challenges for clinical implementation

Hempton

2021

Ann Palliat Med

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On 19 June 2019 the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) came into effect, making Victoria the first state in Australia to permit the practice of 'voluntary assisted dying'. As defined in the legislation, voluntary assisted dying refers to "the administration of a voluntary assisted dying substance and includes steps reasonably related to such administration", "for the purpose of causing a person's death". In essence, the model of voluntary assisted dying established in Victoria is designed for patients within the final weeks or months of life, who may receive medical-assistance to 'choose the manner and timing of their death'. The purpose of this paper is to overview the clinical implementation of voluntary assisted dying in Victoria, attending to three broad challenges: balancing tensions in policy goals and ensuring the legislated 'safeguards' function as intended, translating the complex legislation into clinical practice, and managing conscientious objection to voluntary assisted dying. While there is somewhat limited information available regarding the practice of voluntary assisted dying in Victoria, available data and anecdotal reports indicate the implementation of the state's complex model of voluntary assisted dying has not been without challenges, particularly in terms of balancing the legislated 'safeguards' and patient access to voluntary assisted dying, and translating aspects of the complex legislation into clinical practice. The release of more systematic voluntary assisted dying data by the state, alongside independent research into the operation of voluntary assisted dying, is necessary to better evaluate the implementation and impact of voluntary assisted dying as a new component of clinical practice.

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Cui Bono?

Ashby

Morrell

2020

Bioethical Inquiry

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Deciding For When You Can’t Decide: The Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic)

Cited by 6 publications

References 7 publications

Public knowledge, preferences and experiences about medical substitute decision-making: a national cross-sectional survey

Public knowledge, preferences and experiences about medical substitute decision-making: a national cross-sectional survey

Voluntary assisted dying in the Australian state of Victoria: an overview of challenges for clinical implementation

Cui Bono?

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