Prof. Gary Rodin, Ph.D.

Assisted Dying -
Implications for Society and for
End-of-life-care

With a commentary by Prof. Hans van Delden, Ph.D.

Der Tod gehört zum Leben wie die Geburt, dennoch verdrängen die meisten Menschen den Gedanken an die letzten Stunden und Tage. Umso wichtiger wird diese Frage, wenn Menschen unter einer schweren Erkrankung leiden und ihnen die Mediziner ihre Lebenserwartung vor Augen führen. Dann bleibt die Frage, wie die Menschen ihre verbleibende Zeit nutzen wollen und wie sie dann den Begriff Lebensqualität definieren.

In der Öffentlichkeit wird das Thema zumeist unter dem Schlagwort „Sterbehilfe“ diskutiert. Hier stellt sich die Frage, wo die Grenzen zwischen Sterbehilfe und einem Tötungsdelikt liegen. Auch im Deutschen Bundestag wird hierüber debatiert; in anderen Ländern ist man mit entsprechenden Regelungen schon etwas weiter.

Der kanadische Wissenschaftler Rodin widmete sich in der ceres Lecture dem Thema “Assisted Dying – Implications for Society and for End-of-Life Care”. Sein niederländischer Kollege Hans van Delden erläutert anschließend die Situation in den Niederlanden, die als eines der wenigen Länder in Europa „assistiertes Sterben“ ermöglicht, allerdings unter engen Rahmenbedingungen.

In cooperation with Prof. Dr. Raymond Voltz

Datum
3. Dezember 2014

Uhrzeit
18:00 – 19:30 Uhr

Ort
Auditorium
Max-Planck Institut für die Biologie des Alterns
Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 9b
Universität zu Köln
50923 Köln

About the Referee

Dr. Gary Rodin is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and holds the University of Toronto/University Health Network Harold and Shirley Lederman Chair in Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care.

He is a Senior Scientist in the Ontario Cancer Institute and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Dr. Rodin leads a research team focused on the investigation and treatment of the psychological consequences of metastatic and advanced disease.

He has recently completed a unique five year longitudinal study (The Will to Live study) of the predictors of depression and demoralization in patients with metastatic cancer and is currently conducting CIHR-funded research studies which are examining:

  1. psychological outcomes following an RCT of a manualized psychotherapeutic intervention in patients with metastatic cancer,

  2. the quality of death and dying in hospital and home palliative care settings,

  3. the psychological and palliative care needs of patients acute leukemia.

 

He has published widely on these topics with a particular focus on the problems of depression and demoralization in patients with advanced disease.


About the Co-Referee

Johannes JM van Delden (1960) is full professor of medical ethics at the Julius Center for Health Sciences of the medical school of Utrecht University.

Ever since working as a house officer at an intensive care ward he is highly interested in medical ethics. He wrote a thesis on the medical and ethical aspects of Do Not Resuscitate orders. Also, he was one of the principal researchers of the study of medical decisions concerning the end of life for

the Remmelink committee. After his education as a nursing home physician he has worked in several nursing homes for 15 years (until May 2011). His special fields of interest are: research ethics, moral problems at the end of life and moral problems in the care for the elderly.

He is currently the president of the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS).