Dying: Another Stage of Life

Question 1

Bereaved

Answer 1

Refers to an individual who is experiencing grief
and mourning following the loss of someone or
something that is very dear to them.

Question 2

Bill C-14

Answer 2

Legislation passed in June 2016 amending the
Criminal Code of Canada and other related
Acts, limiting the right to medical assistance
in dying to those whose natural death is “reasonably
foreseeable:’

Question 3

Carter v. Canada (Attorney General) (2015)

Answer 3

A landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision
where the prohibition of assisted suicide was
challenged as contrary to the Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms. In a unanimous decision
on February 6, 2015, the Court struck down
the provision in the Criminal Code of Canada,
thereby giving Canadian adults who are mentally
competent and suffering intolerably and
enduringly the right to a doctor’s help in dying.

Question 4

Christianity

Answer 4

The religion based on the person and
teachings ofJesus of Nazareth, or its beliefs
and practices.

Question 5

Complicated or Prolonged Grief

Answer 5

Grief that does not resolve naturally and
persists for an indefinite period with varying
degrees of incapacitation

Question 6

Death Anxiety

Answer 6

The persistent fear of one’s own mortality
with this fear consisting of a feeling of dread,
apprehension, or anxiety.

Question 7

Do-Not-Resuscitate Order

Answer 7

A do-not-resuscitate order, or DNR order, is a
medical order written by a doctor and based
on previous consultation with/ directive from
the patient. It instructs healthcare providers
not to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation
(CPR) if a patient’s breathing stops or if the
patient’s heart stops beating.

Question 8

Drion’s Pill

Answer 8

Huib Drion, then-vice-president of the Dutch
Supreme Court, put forward the idea of
having an easily available suicide pill for older
adults who wanted to end their lives. This
suicide pill came to be known as the Drion
Pill or Drion’s Pill.

Question 9

Euthanasia

Answer 9

A process that involves a deliberate action
with the express intention of ending a life to
relieve intractable (persistent, unstoppable)
suffering. The action may be either nonvoluntar
y or voluntary.

Question 10

Five Stages of Death

Answer 10

A model of death developed by Elisabeth
Kubler-Ross, consisting of five stages of dying
that people experience when faced with their
own impending death: denial, anger, bargaining,
depression, and acceptance. While
the stages are listed in order, they do not
necessarily occur in the same sequence with
every individual and more than one stage
may be present at the same time.

Question 11

Grief

Answer 11

A natural response to the loss of a loved
one or someone or something very dear to
a person.

Question 12

Grievous and Irremediable Medical

Condition

Answer 12

One criteria for medical assistance in dying;
an individual must have a serious illness,
disease, disability; be in an advanced state of
decline that cannot be reversed; be suffering
unbearably from the illness, disease, disability,
or state of declin e; and be at a point
where natural death is foreseeable.

Question 13

Intestacy Rules

Answer 13

When a person dies without leaving a valid
will, their property (the estate) must be
shared out according to certain rules. Each
province has intestacy rules that define an
estate’s beneficiaries and how much each is
to receive.

Question 14

Lower House

Answer 14

Also known as the House of Commons- a
component of the Parliament of Canada,
along with the Senate and the Monarch
(represented by the governor general).

Question 15

Medical Assistance in Dying

Answer 15

Legislation that allows eligible adults in
Canada to request physician-assisted suicide
or physician-assisted death. There are two
types of medical assistance in dying available
to Canadians- voluntary euthanasia and
medically assisted suicide.

Question 16

Medically Assisted Suicide

Answer 16

When a physician or nurse practitioner gives
or prescribes a drug that is self-administered
to cause death. In some jurisdictions, this is
referred to as physician-assisted suicide or
physician-assisted death.

Question 17

Mourning

Answer 17

The cultural and/ or public display of grief
through one’s behaviour. It is the process
through which the resolution of grief may
be accomplished.

Question 18

Non-Voluntary Euthanasia

Answer 18

When a physician or someone else
administers a medication such as a sedative
or a neuromuscular relaxant or other
intervention to intentionally end the life
of a non-competent patient who could not
give informed consent (e.g., an adult with
Alzheimer’s disease or other condition that
compromises decision-making capacity); also
called “passive euthanasia:’

Question 19

Opioid Analgesics

Answer 19

Pain relievers, also known as narcotic analgesics,

that act on the central nervous system.

Question 20

Physician-Assisted Suicide

Answer 20

When the physician provides medication or
a prescription to a patient as per the patient’s
explicit request, with the understanding that
the patient intends to use the medication to
end his or her life. This often is referred to as
physician -assisted death.

Question 21

Quality of Death Index

Answer 21

A measure of the quality of palliative care
in 80 countries using 20 quantitative and
qualitative indicators across five categories:
the palliative and healthcare environment, human resources, the affordability of care,
the quality of care, and the level of community
engagement.

Question 22

Royal Assent

Answer 22

The Canadian Constitution Act of 1867 states
that the approval of the Crown, signified
by Royal Assent, is required for any bill to
become law after passage by both the Senate
and the House of Commons.

Question 23

Terminal

Answer 23

Predicted to lead to death, especially slowly;

incurable.

Question 24

Upper House

Answer 24

Also known as the Senate- a component of
the Parliament of Canada, along with the
House of Commons and the Monarch (represented
by the governor general).

Question 25

Voluntary Euthanasia

Answer 25

When a physician or someone else administers
a medication such as a sedative or a
neuromuscular relaxant or other intervention
to intentionally end a mentally competent
patient’s life, with this intervention done at
the individual’s request. This often is referred
to as voluntary active euthanasia.