Legal and administrative situation of terminal patient’s family

Mateusz Kruczkowski
Studia nad Rodziną
Section: Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.21697/snr.2018.46.1.11

Abstract

Patient’s terminal state affects their family very specifically. The reality faced by the family includes anxiety and fear of solitude, helplessness, death, dying, worries about access to necessary medical equipment or about its failure, about pain and suffering of the dying person, deterioration of material conditions, social isolation, fear of the very sight and touch of the dead relative’s body. The complexity of the problem involves emotions of every family member and the reactions of other members of the family concerning the death of the patient. Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients (adults and children) and their families who are facing problems associated with life-threatening illness. It prevents and relieves suffering through the early iden-tification, correct assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, whether physical, psychosocial or spiritual. Thus palliative care is an adequate reaction to the state of the terminally ill patient and their family. Both administrative and legal situation of the patient’s family is strongly connec-ted to the situation of the terminal patient. It means that improvement of patient’s legal and administrative situation accordingly improves the legal and administra-tive situation of their family. What does improvement mean? The starting point here is the right to die with dignity, the right which is anchored in the Constitution of The Republic of Poland. It is in this aforementioned principle of law, which is the right to die as peacefully as it is possible and with dignity that is due to a human being, where the dignity of man in the terminal state is enclosed.

Keywords:

palliative care, family, legal and administrative situation, right to die with dignity, terminal patient

Download files

Citation rules

Kruczkowski, M. (2021). Legal and administrative situation of terminal patient’s family. Studia Nad Rodziną, 22(1(46), 149–171. https://doi.org/10.21697/snr.2018.46.1.11

Cited by / Share


This website uses cookies for proper operation, in order to use the portal fully you must accept cookies.