Soins palliatifs et médecine

Abstrait

Factors Influencing the Judgment Process in Palliative Sedation Hospice's Struggle to Strike a Balance between Varied Individual Autonomy

Joseph King

The goal of this study is to see how the practice of palliative terminal sedation treatment (PST) has altered in a hospice environment through time and what psychosocial factors have impacted it. The prevalence of palliative/terminal sedation therapy (PST) and several parameters linked with the decision-making procedure in PST were investigated (awareness of death, impairment of cognitive function, discussion of sedation with physicians, etc.). Despite a decreased tendency in patients who are unaware that they are dying, the caregiver is always the interpreter in the decision-making process. Furthermore, when the caregiver was the primary interlocutor in the judgment process, the likelihood of conscious sedation preceding profound sedation was dramatically reduced. The importance of the patient's decision-making appears to be related to understanding of the death process, and the families' responsibilities are an important consideration in healthcare interventions