End of Life and Decision Making - Assignment Example

? End of life and decision making affiliation End of life and decision making A person’s lifestyle matters a lot in determining their personality. People living under low quality lifestyle have a high probability of making life ending decisions. The quality of life one has shapes the kind of treatment one gets from the society. Rich people tend to get special treatments due to their status in society. This in turn, comes at the expense of poor individuals who have poor lifestyles and get second level treatment after the bourgeoisie. This usually leads to the different levels of death anxiety in different individuals. People with poor backgrounds tend to have a high level of death anxiety compared to wealthy people. Taking three factors into consideration; quality of life, treatment and end of life decisions are on the same page. The factors are divided into two sides, the good side and the poor side. High nasty level of treatment of poor people, they get the feeling of inequality in society. This leads most of them wishing for their death (Blank &Merrick, 2005). Since they do not want to commit suicide, they may use any opportunity presented to them to end their lives. For instance, long term illness which cost large amounts of money for treatment. Additionally, family members of poor households tend to share the same sentiments. If this kind of family is presented with adverse opportunities, the probability of deciding on assisted suicide is high. Wealthy people tend to have different sentiments. These kinds of individuals have comfortable lifestyles and a thought of ending their lives is not an option. In the case of disastrous illnesses, for instance, they do everything in their hands to save their life and the lives of their relatives. This is also influenced by the kind of treatment they get in medical facilities. They have the best medical staff, go to the best medical facilities and get the best admission options. This gives them the feeling of appreciation and the importance of their lives. To these people, the end of life decisions may only occur in cases of one way option, which is death. Pietsch, Braun & Blanchette (2000) argue that end of life decisions may be made in a direct or an indirect manner. Directly refers to an instance of willingly agreeing to the option of death. Indirectly is the unwillingly or unknowingly made decision which may lead to death. In this case, the lifestyle differences also take centre stage. People with poor lifestyles expose themselves to many risks of death. They have the most risky jobs and undergo poor treatments from employers. For example, there are sums of people who work at dumpsters and slave shops; they are exposed to very poor working condition and treatments. This unwillingly creates a decision towards the end of life. Taking a look at wealthy people, they have amazing jobs, live in safe neighborhoods and have the best working conditions. Their safety is guaranteed while on the other hand, the poor people are living on the brink of the risk of depth at any time of their lives. There are three classifications of euthanasia; voluntary, involuntary and non-voluntary euthanasia. Voluntary euthanasia is the killing of a patient at his or her request, with the belief that death is the better option; thus, making it justified. More often than not, the decision is made upon a doctor’s belief that a patient does not have a worthwhile life. Many people look at it as an act of ending suffering. According to Werth & Belvins (2008), involuntary euthanasia is the killing of a patient without one’s consent. This is referred to as murder because it does not include the decision of the patient in case. Non-voluntary euthanasia is the type where the patient does not have the ability to give the request, for example, if one is in a coma and cannot communicate. In this scenario, another person is entitled with the responsible of giving the request. Assisted suicide, on the other hand, it is the act of deliberately giving assistance or encouragement to another person with the motive of committing suicide or attempts to commit suicide. The act can motive of person looking to serve his personal interest in someone’s death are out of pity for a close family member or friend. In most countries, this act is illegal and it is punishable by law. It is argued, that after assisted death case, there is only one side of the story. The dead person cannot give his account on what happened, so a clear and true story of the incident cannot be obtained. This leaves the individual assisted in the death with a great depth of doubt on his side. In the case of euthanasia, it is only legal in a few countries around the world some being, Holland, Belgium and Luxemburg. However, it is only legal if; that person has made an active request to end their life, that person is in the right mental capacity to make the request and that the condition of the person is agreed to be unbearable and there is no hope of improvement. Different opinions have been given in the support and opposition of the acts of euthanasia and assisted death. However, many people tend to agree with the acts if it is a genuinely reached the decision and if they are no options left but death. Roberts, Gorman & Mc Dougall (2008) indicate that, in some cases, people find euthanasia as a shortcut to end medical challenges. Others feel that with the legalization of euthanasia doctor and medical bodies will be reluctant in finding solutions to deal with tragic illnesses and the dying. It also argued that, in the legalization of assisted death, it is also right not to prosecute people charged with attempted suicide. People who attempt suicide have the feeling that their lives are not worthwhile which makes no difference to an assisted murder case. It is clear that lifestyle quality, treatment and life ending decisions go hand in hand. Life ending decisions are usually taken with the motive of ending suffering and responsibilities. References Blank, R. &Merrick, J. (2005). End-of-life decision making: a cross-national study. New York: MIT Press. Pietsch, J., Braun, K. & Blanchette, P. (2000).Cultural issues in end-of-life decision making. London: SAGE. Roberts, C., Gorman, M. & Mc Dougall, F. (2008). Euthanasia: a reference handbook. New York: ABC-CLIO. Werth, J. & Belvins, D. (2008).Decision making near the end of life: issues, developments, and future directions. London: Routledge. Read More