Resources and publications

Find resources about assisted dying in Aotearoa New Zealand and see a list of publications on this topic by members of our research network.

Academic articles

Below is a list of academic articles by members of the Assisted Dying Research Network. If you can't access an article, contact one of the authors via the link in their name. They can send you a copy of the article at no cost.

Forthcoming

2024

Young, J.E., Dehkhoda, A., Ahuriri-Driscoll, A., Cheung, G., Diesfeld, K., Egan, R., Karaka-Clarke, T., Moeke-Maxwell, T., Reid, K., Robinson, J., Snelling, J., White, B., & Winters, J. (2024). Exploring the early experiences of assisted dying in Aotearoa New Zealand: a qualitative study protocol. BMJ Open, 14:e090118. See article.

Young, J. E., Lyons, A. C., Dew, K., & Egan, R. (2024). Is there a right time to die? How patients, families and assisted dying providers decide on and anticipate a date with death. Death Studies, 1–13. See article.

Winters J.P., Jaye C., Pickering N.J., et al. (2024). Providing medically assisted dying in Canada: a qualitative study of emotional and moral impact. Journal of Medical Ethics, Published online first: 28 August. See article.

2023

Bustin, H., Jamieson, I., Seay, C., & Reid, K. (2023). A meta-synthesis exploring nurses' experiences of assisted dying and participation decision-making. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 00, 1–14. See article.

Dehkhoda, A., Frey, R., Carey, M., Jing, X., Robinson, J., Sundram, F., Hoeh, N. R., Bull, S., Menkes, D., & Cheung, G. (2023). Exploring the impact of e-learning modules and webinars on health professionals' understanding of the End of Life Choice Act 2019: a secondary analysis of Manatū Hauora - Ministry of Health workforce survey. The New Zealand Medical Journal, 136(1582), 52–63. See article.

White, B. P., Jeanneret, R., Close, E., & Willmott, L. (2023). Access to voluntary assisted dying in Victoria: a qualitative study of family caregivers’ perceptions of barriers and facilitators. The Medical Journal of Australia, 219(5), 211–217. See article.

White, B. P., Jeanneret, R., & Willmott, L. (2023). Barriers to connecting with the voluntary assisted dying system in Victoria, Australia: A qualitative mixed method study. Health Expectations, 1–14. See article.

Sims A. & Cheung G. (2023). Unintended consequences of the End of Life Choice Act. New Zealand Medical Journal, 136(1578):123-125. See article.

Snelling, J., Young, J., Beaumont, S., Diesfeld, K., White, B., Willmott, L., Robinson, J., & Moeke-Maxwell, T. (2023). Health care providers’ early experiences of assisted dying in Aotearoa New Zealand: an evolving clinical service. BMC Palliative Care, 22(101), 1–15. See article.

Dehkhoda, A., Frey, R., Carey, M., Jing, X., Bull, S., Sundram, F., Hoeh, N. R., Menkes, D., Robinson, J., & Cheung, G. (2023). Health professionals’ understanding and attitude towards the End of Life Choice Act 2019: a secondary analysis of Manatū Hauora - Ministry of Health workforce surveys. New Zealand Medical Journal, 136(1576), 11–31. See article.

Young,J., Snelling, J., Beaumont, S., Diesfeld, K., White, B., Willmott, L., Robinson, J., Ahuriri-Driscoll, A., Cheung, G., Dehkhoda, A., Egan, R., Jap, J., Karaka-Clarke, T., Manson, L., McLaren, C., Winters, JP. (2023). What do health care professionals want to know about assisted dying? Setting the research agenda in New Zealand. BMC Palliative Care, 22(40). See article.

2022

Sandham, M., Carey, M., Hedgecock, E., & Jarden, R. (2022). Nurses' experiences of supporting patients requesting voluntary assisted dying: A qualitative meta-synthesis. Journal of advanced nursing, 78(10), 3101–3115. See article.

Winters, JP, Jaye, C., Pickering, N. (forthcoming). Winging It: A qualitative study of knowledge-acquisition experiences for early adopting providers of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). Palliative Care and Social Practice. See article.

Cheung, G., Frey, R., Young, J., Hoeh, N., Carey, M., Vara, A., & Menkes, D. B. (2022). Voluntary assisted dying: The expanded role of psychiatrists in Australia and New Zealand. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 56(4), 319–322. See article.

Sellars, M., White, B. P., Yates, P., & Willmott, L. (2022). Medical practitioners’ views and experiences of being involved in assisted dying in Victoria, Australia: A qualitative interview study among participating doctors. Social Science & Medicine, 292, 114568.

Snelling, J. (2022). Critiquing the End of Life Choice Act 2019. New Zealand Universities Law Review, 30(1), pp 1-30.

White, B., Willmott, L., Del Villar, K., Hewitt, J., Close, E., Ley Greaves, L., ... & Downie, J. (2022). Who is eligible for voluntary assisted dying? Nine medical conditions assessed against five legal frameworks. University of New South Wales Law Journal, 45(1).

Willmott, L., De Villar, K., & White, B.P. (2022). Voluntary assisted dying in Victoria, Australia: A values-based critique. In Westwood, S. (Ed.), Regulating the End of Life: Death Rights (pp. 55-73). Routledge.

2021

Close, E., Willmott, L., & White, B. P. (2021). Regulating voluntary assisted dying practice: A policy analysis from Victoria, Australia. Health Policy, 125(11), 1455-1474.

Hewitt, J., White, B., Villar, K. D., Willmott, L., Greaves, L. L., & Meehan, R. (2021). Voluntary assisted dying in Victoria: Why knowing the law matters to nurses. Nursing ethics, 28(2), 221-229. See article.

Holmes, A., Lange, P., Stewart, C., White, B., Willmott, L., Dooley, M., ... & Komesaroff, P. (2021). Can depressed patients make a decision to request voluntary assisted dying?. Internal Medicine Journal, 51(10), 1713-1716.

Jaye, C., Young, J., Lomax-Sawyers, I., & Egan, R. (2021). Assisted Dying in New Zealand: What is Known about the Values Underpinning Citizens’ Positions? Mortality, 26(1), 66-82. See article.

McDougall, R. J., White, B. P., Ko, D., Keogh, L., & Willmott, L. (2021). Junior doctors and conscientious objection to voluntary assisted dying: ethical complexity in practice. Journal of medical ethics. See article.

Rutherford, J., Willmott, L., & White, B. P. (2021). Physician attitudes to voluntary assisted dying: a scoping review. BMJ supportive & palliative care, 11(2), 200-208. See article.

Rutherford, J., Willmott, L., & White, B. P. (2021). What the Doctor Would Prescribe: Physician Experiences of Providing Voluntary Assisted Dying in Australia. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying. See article.

White, B. P., Close, E., Willmott, L., Del Villar, K., Downie, J., Cameron, J., ... & Greaves, L. L. (2021). Comparative and critical analysis of key eligibility criteria for voluntary assisted dying under five legal frameworks. The University of New South Wales Law Journal, 44(4), 1663-1700. See article.

White, B.P., & Willmott, L. (Eds). (2021). International Perspectives on End-of-Life Law Reform: Politics, Persuasion and Persistence (Cambridge Bioethics and Law). Cambridge University Press.

White, B. P., Willmott, L., Close, E., & Downie, J. (2021, December). Legislative options to address institutional objections to voluntary assisted dying in Australia. In University of New South Wales Law Journal Forum, 3, 1-19. See article.

White, B. P., Willmott, L., Close, E., Hewitt, J., Meehan, R., Greaves, L. L., ... & Yates, P. (2021). Development of voluntary assisted dying training in Victoria, Australia: a model for consideration. Journal of Palliative Care, 36(3), 162-167. See article.

White, B. P., Willmott, L., Sellars, M., & Yates, P. (2021). Prospective oversight and approval of assisted dying cases in Victoria, Australia: a qualitative study of doctors’ perspectives. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. See article.

Willmott, L., White, B. P., Sellars, M., & Yates, P. M. (2021). Participating doctors’ perspectives on the regulation of voluntary assisted dying in Victoria: a qualitative study. Medical Journal of Australia, 215(3), 125-129. See article.

Winters, J. P. (2021). Eligibility for assisted dying: not protection for vulnerable people, but protection for people when they are vulnerable. Journal of Medical Ethics, 47(10), 672-673. See article.

Winters, J. P., Pickering, N., & Jaye, C. (2021). Because it was new: Unexpected experiences of physician providers during Canada's early years of legal medical assistance in dying. Health Policy, 125(11), 1489-1497. See article.

Young, J., Jaye, C., Egan, R. & Winters, J. (2021) The discursive context of medical aid in dying: A paradox of control? Social Science & Medicine, 291, 1-7. See article.

Young, J., Winters, J., Jaye, C. & Egan, R. (2021). What do patients think about end-of-life practices that hasten death? Focused Issue “Hastened Death”, Annals of Palliative Medicine. 10(3), 3363-3574. See article.

Young, J., Winters, J., Snelling, J., White, B. P., Gavaghan, C., Geddis, A., & Egan, R. (2021). The End of Life Choice Act: A Proposed Implementation and Research Agenda. New Zealand Medical Journal, 134(1544), 1450158. See article.

2020

Dehkhoda, A., Owens, R. G., & Malpas, P. J. (2020). An Ethnographic Approach: Views on Assisted Dying for Individuals with Dementia. Qualitative Health Research, 30(13), 2077-2091. See the article.

Dehkhoda, A., Owens, R. G., & Malpas, P. J. (2020). Conceptual framework for assisted dying for individuals with dementia: Views of experts not opposed in principle. Dementia, 20(3), 1058-1079. See the article.

Manson, L. M. (2021). Te Ao Maori: Maori Nurses’ Perspectives on Assisted Dying and the Te Ao Maori Cultural Considerations Required to Guide Nursing Practice. [Master’s thesis, Auckland University of Technology]. Tuwhera. See the article.

Moeke-Maxwell, T., Collier, A, Wiles, J, Williams, L, Black, S, & Gott, M. (2020). Bereaved families’ perspectives of End-of-life care. Towards a bicultural Whare Tapa Whā older person’s palliative care model. Journal of Cross Cultural Geronontology, 35(2), 177-193. See the article.

Moeke-Maxwell, T., Mason, K, Toohey, F, & Dudley, J. (2018). Pou Aroha: An indigenous perspective of Māori palliative care, New Zealand. In R. D. MacLeod and L. Block (Eds.), Textbook of Palliative Care. Springer Nature.

Nelson-Becker, H., & Moeke-Maxwell, T. (2020). Spiritual Diversity, Spiritual Assessment, and Māori End-of-Life Perspectives: Attaining Ka Ea. Religions, 11(10), 536. See the article.

Walker, S., Egan, R., Young, J., Jaye, C., Jackson, C. (2020). A Citizens’ Jury on Euthanasia/Assisted Dying: does informed deliberation change people’s views. Health Expectations. 2020; 23(2), 388–395. See the article.

Young, J. (2020) Agency, Uncertainty and Power: Why People Consider Assisted Dying at the End of Life. PhD thesis, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago. See the article.

Young J. & Geddis A. Vox populi, vox Dei? Previewing New Zealand’s public decision on assisted dying. (2020). Journal of Law and Medicine.  27(4), 937-951.

2019

Young, J., Egan, R., Walker, S., Graham-DeMello, A., & Jackson, C. (2019). The euthanasia debate: synthesising the evidence on New Zealander’s attitudes. Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 14(1), 1–21. See article.

This article identifies core issues for practitioners, patients, and policymakers that research should focus on after the End-of-Life Choice Act comes into effect (November 2021).

The authors recommend the provision of training for all health practitioners and providing practitioners; exploration of the nuances of discussing the “wish to hasten death”; conscientious objection; cultural safety for Māori; and minimising the complexity of delivering assisted dying practice.

Once the End-of-Life Choice Act comes into force research should be committed to ensuring transparency, safety, and equity in the assisted dying service.

Reports and grey literature

White, B.P., and Willmott, L. (2021). Voluntary assisted dying research: a policy briefing. Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology. See the policy briefing.

Public writing

Scott-Jones, J. (2023). The first time I examined my beliefs and provided an assisted death. NZ Doctor (12 April edition). See article.

Young, J., Snelling, J. & Dehkhoda, A. (2023). Is assisted dying available equally to all in NZ? Questions next year’s review of the law must answer. The Conversation. See article.

White, B. and Willmott, L. (2022, May 19). Voluntary assisted dying will soon be legal in all states. Here’s what’s just happened in NSW and what it means for you. The Conversation. See the article.

Young, J. (2021, November 4). Readiness of system key to End of Life Choice Act rollout. Latest News from Te Herenga Waka. Read the news story.

Young, J. (2021, November 8). Now to make assisted dying equitable. Newsroom. See the article.