End of life care

An online symposium on 9 February, organized by the Medical Section at the Goetheanum, presented alternatives to assisted suicide.

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Severe illness can lead to a desire to die, often triggered by a loss of meaning, the feeling to be a burden on others or a fear of suffering and pain. Matthias Girke, a specialist in internal and palliative medicine and head of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum, has had the experience that this death wish “can almost always be transformed through palliative therapy and psychological and spiritual support because these can help people find new meaning and acquire a new sense of autonomy.” A crucial first step is to recognize the needs concealed behind the wish to die.

Anthroposophic palliative medicine builds on the human ability to evolve and to conceive of future, even in cases of severe or terminal illness. Nurturing human relationships can help people to find new tasks and feel that they are needed. New perspectives and purposes can replace the sense of meaning being lost.

Drug therapy can alleviate most symptoms. “When supporting patients we must always respect the dignity of the individual illness or dying process,” Matthias Girke points out, “there is nothing generic here.”

Behind the wish for assisted suicide Matthias Girke detects a call for more humanity. He sees considerable need for action in building a broad basis of palliative care provision and in promoting recognition of the work of nurses and care professionals in homes for the elderly, nursing homes and hospices.

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