Medical practitioners’ views and experiences of being involved in assisted dying in Victoria, Australia: A qualitative interview study among participating doctors

Abstract

Rationale: On June 19, 2019, Assisted Dying (AD) was legalized in the Australian state of Victoria, joining a small but growing cohort of jurisdictions internationally where AD is permitted. Few studies have examined perspectives of doctors who have participated in AD in jurisdictions where it has become legal, despite their pivotal role in the system. Objective: This study aimed to describe the beliefs, experiences and perspectives of doctors who had provided AD during the first 12 months of its operation in Victoria, Australia. Method: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted between April and July 2020 with 32 Victorian doctors who had been involved in the AD process during the first 12-months since it became legal in Victoria. The assumptions underpinning our methodology were guided by a phenomenological approach and reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: Five major themes were identified: a nascent approach to care, practising within clinical and legal uncertainty, confronting practices, personal sacrifices and coping amid new challenges. A thematic schema was developed, illustrating that these themes were expressed as a balance of competing tensions of identity for doctors who provided AD for their patients in practice. A major tension was not just how doctors' perceptions impacted their own wellbeing and satisfaction, but also how these challenged their continued involvement in AD and, therefore, the system's overall ability to function. Conclusion: Our findings show that while doctors discussed AD as an ethical practice, it also involved multiple identities with varying sources of meaning, and these identities were sometimes overlapping depending on context. As other jurisdictions increasingly move to legalize AD, a greater appreciation of the different role-based and group-based challenges involved in AD may improve AD implementation strategies.