A good death instead of medical survival?
June 6, 2023, Utrecht City Center University Library
On June 6, 2023, we spoke with our audience and three experts about the end of life. This was the sixth public dialogue in the series New Perspectives on Illness and Health.
Everyone desires a good, long, and meaningful life. But what do we do when the end of that life seems near? Do we choose to live as long as possible with medical support, despite potential discomforts? Or do we opt for a peaceful end without suffering, even if that means the end might come sooner? In other words, do we choose a good death or medical survival?
On June 6, at Van Hier Naar [...], we discussed this topic with an experienced patient, a historian, and a hospice physician. We explored how attitudes toward death have changed historically and how the role of medical professionals in the final phase of life has expanded. We also delved into critical questions on this subject. When does life still hold meaning? To what extent is the end of life controllable? What role should healthcare play in dying? Where are the legal and moral boundaries for euthanasia, particularly in cases of (advanced) dementia? Can we make enough decisions about our own death?
Speakers:
- Frank Huisman is Professor of the History of Medicine, offering us a historical perspective on how we deal with death. What role do doctors play at the end of life, and how have medical-technological developments influenced this role?
- Toosje Valkenburg is a general practitioner, hospice doctor, and founder of Optimal Care – Brave Doctors, as well as the series Taboos and Interests in the Dutch Journal of Medicine. Toosje observed that we are "deathly afraid of death" and advocates for an ongoing conversation about the end of life, stating: “how people think about their end of life changes constantly, along with their physical condition.”
- Henk Blanken is a writer and journalist diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2011. In addition to physical decline, he faces a higher risk of dementia. Since then, he has written extensively on euthanasia in cases of dementia, including the manifesto My Death is Not My Own, and discussed it in a TED Talk.