End of life: a campaign to inform caregivers

First, alert health professionals. This December 13, the Minister of Health Marisol Touraine is launching an information campaign on the end of life. The first component targets caregivers. They are encouraged to discuss the subject more with their patients. Because the law has evolved and grants them more rights. The nursing staff, on the other hand, have more tools to support patients in advanced or terminal stages.

Since February 2, France has a more open position vis-à-vis the end of life. The right to refuse treatment is confirmed by law. Patients can also receive deep and continuous sedation until death, if necessary. But how do you approach the subject with patients? The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health admits it, the approach is delicate. To support healthcare professionals, a guide and practical sheets are made available to them. An evolution that will be conveyed by the professional press and on social networks.

More means

In fact, caregivers are now subject to more obligations. They are thus responsible for informing the patient clearly and his wish has more weight. Therapeutic relentlessness is no longer permitted. But to listen to the patient’s voice, he must still have expressed it. For this, not waiting for the disease is crucial. This is the main message of this campaign.

Obligations, but also means. Health professionals are now authorized to use any method that will ensure a “dignified, supported and peaceful” end of life. Including if it causes the death of the patient. Support for a patient in an advanced or terminal phase is clearer, as are the conditions for stopping treatment.

From February 2017, the campaign will be broken down into a second part. This time, it will be intended for the general public. “Remaining master of your life until the moment you leave it is an issue of dignity, a democratic and civic requirement,” said Marisol Touraine in a press release. This requirement also involves transparent information. Because in France, 90% of French people do not know their rights.