Attitudes to Timeliness of Death and Euthanasia Among First Generation Black Caribbean and White Patients and Their Families Living in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Attitudes to timeliness of death and euthanasia are little researched among people from different ethnic backgrounds or in socioeconomically deprived areas. We interviewed 50 bereaved family members of people from the black Caribbean community and 50 from the white community in the United Kingdom, using an established questionnaire, and compared reports of their and the reported patient views. In both groups more than two thirds of patients knew they might die, although in more than half of these cases no one had actually told them this. More than half of the respondents thought the deceased had died at the right time. One in five patients had talked about wanting to die sooner but this was not related to family members' own views. One patient in the black Caribbean group and two in the white group had talked about wanting euthanasia. The study highlights that communication with patients needs to be improved among both black Caribbean and white patients, but suggests that attitudes to timeliness of death are similar in both groups.