Book Description

This dissertation used Q methodology to measure and analyze the moral and political positions of various actors who have an interest in the issue of physician aided dying. The population studied included health care professionals, legal professionals, members of the clergy and religious orders, social workers, caregivers, ethicists, the aged and infirm, all of whom comprised the primary decision making group for end of life issues. There were 41 participants in this study. 36 of the 41 participants who completed the Q-sorting portion of the study also completed a public policy survey. A factor analysis was performed and a judgmental rotation of the factors from which a three-factor solution emerged (referred to in the text as Factor A, Factor B, and Factor C). Factor B, the only Q factor that correlated significantly with a policy factor, supports a policy program that would reform the existing legal system in order to accommodate its moral reasoning. Factor A is distinguished by its belief that PAS and euthanasia are inimical to physicians' moral duty and fundamentally wrong. Factors B and C believe that physician assisted dying can, for some patients, increase the prospects for dying well and that the medical and legal system should evolve to accept that perspective. Factor C is also more focused than Factor B on emphasizing that PAS and euthanasia do not signify a failure of physicians to follow their moral duty towards their patients and society.