| dc.description.abstract | The world has been moving towards an ageing trend. Taiwan will become one of the countries
with an elderly population of more than 20% by 2025, and will enter a ＂super old society＂.
According to the ＂Cancer Registry Report＂ of the Department of Health and Welfare,
cancer has been among the top ten causes of death since 1971. Therefore, these data reflect
the massive aging of the population and the yearly increase of cancer patients, and the demand
for medical care has increased correspondingly, and the preparation of end-of-life and
rights to die have become more and more important. The rapid advancement of medical technology
has provided many solutions for many terminal patients who cannot be cured to
achieve the goal of prolonging life, but it also prolongs the process of dying. Therefore, how
to face death is the biggest test of life. In the end, when life comes to an end, everyone hopes
to have a good and satisfactory ending.
In fact, there are many complex issues regarding death, and some moral dilemmas regarding
death are still unsolved today. This thesis treats in details the options for terminally ill patients
today including natural death, physician assisted suicide, euthanasia, terminal sedation
and the solutions provided by the Hospice and Palliative Care Act, and the Patient Right to
Autonomy Act. The first Patient Autonomy Act in Asia has been officially launched in Sixth
January 2019 in Taiwan. This thesis gives a more or less complete analysis of the Act and
proposes some amendments for it. It is hoped that it can support and provide more options for
terminally ill patients and solves some of the issues of medical dilemma faced by hospice patients.
If one has to die with dignity, to end peacefully, quietly, and satisfactorily, and to achieve
＂no regrets for those alive as well as those died＂, and this is a good death. The meaning of
good death covers issues including the body, mind, spirit and society, and has a wide range of
meanings. In this paper I deal only with the good death for the terminally ill in a narrow sense.
This is why we believe that the meaning of a good death is like the poem of Tagore′s Stray
Birds: ―Let life be beautiful like summer flowers and death like autumn leaves. | en_US |