Department of Psychiatry, 569586University of Melbourne, Melbourne, AU-VIC, Australia; and Department of Psychiatry, Melbourne Health, Melbourne, AU-VIC, Australia.
Department of Medicine, 569586University of Melbourne, Melbourne, AU-VIC, Australia; and Parkville Integrated Palliative Care Service, 3085Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospitals, Parkville, AU-VIC, Australia.
Australas Psychiatry. 2022 Jun;30(3):372-374. doi: 10.1177/10398562211064252. Epub 2022 Feb 2.
The Victorian Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (the Act) exposed a spectrum of opinions regarding euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide amongst Victorian palliative care physicians leading to sometimes acrimonious debate. The profession was unable to articulate a unified role in respect of VAD.
A collaboration between psychiatry and palliative care led to a series of group discussions in order to prepare for the Act and to re-establish professional cohesion.
Although the meetings revealed a plurality of views regarding VAD amongst palliative care physicians, the majority were firmly against the Act. Early meetings revealed strong feelings of shock and an inability to proceed. Previous debates resurfaced between those in support and those not in support of VAD. Over time, there was increased acceptance of the need to adapt to the presence of the Act in order to limit its impact on the robust relationship with the patient central to the practice of palliative care.
The implementation of VAD legislation requires an active process to address the challenges it represents for palliative care physicians. Collaborative facilitated meetings can help re-establish group cohesion through affirming the core principles of palliative care which remain independent of VAD.
2017 年维多利亚州自愿协助死亡法案（该法案）引发了维多利亚州姑息治疗医生对安乐死和医师协助自杀的一系列意见分歧，导致有时出现激烈的辩论。该行业无法就 VAD 阐明统一的角色。
精神病学和姑息治疗之间的合作促成了一系列小组讨论，以准备该法案并重新建立专业凝聚力。
尽管会议揭示了姑息治疗医生对 VAD 的观点多样性，但大多数人坚决反对该法案。早期会议揭示了强烈的震惊感和无法进行的感觉。以前的辩论在支持和不支持 VAD 的人之间再次出现。随着时间的推移，人们越来越接受需要适应该法案的存在，以限制其对姑息治疗实践中以患者为中心的强大关系的影响。
VAD 立法的实施需要一个积极的过程来应对它给姑息治疗医生带来的挑战。协作促进的会议可以通过肯定姑息治疗的核心原则来帮助重新建立群体凝聚力，这些原则独立于 VAD。
