2022/10/13 by Darren Haywood, Jessica Thompson, Lauren J. Breen +1
Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health #Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues #Risk Perception and Management
paper · doi:10.1177/00302228221133414
crossref issued 2022/10/13 · crossref published 2022/10/13 · crossref published-online 2022/10/13 · openalex publication_date 2022/10/13 · crossref created 2022/10/13 · crossref published-print 2025/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/05/01 · crossref indexed 2026/07/31 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Assisted dying refers to the steps of the administration of a voluntary assisted dying substance and the administration of the substance. In Australia, assisted dying is now legal in all states. However, there is limited knowledge of what underpins the community's attitudes toward assisted dying. It is important for health professionals to understand what underpins attitudes toward assisted dying when navigating the option with patients and family members. We used a survey based on the Tripartite Model of Attitudes to examine the degree to which beliefs, emotions, and experiences, as well as knowledge, underpinned attitudes towards assisted dying. With a sample of 108, we found emotions and beliefs to significantly explain attitudes towards assisted dying. Knowledge of assisted dying practices was low amongst the sample. Our findings suggest that education of assisted dying is required, and that attitudes towards assisted dying in the Australian community are underpinned by beliefs and emotions.