important clinical challenge in the context of PAD for psychiatric suffering. Second, we will identify the main challenges that psychiatrists face when establishing IPS in the context of PAD. Finally, we will develop criteria on how to address these challenges. This leads to the following research questions: I. Is establishing irremediability a morally relevant issue in the context of physician assisted death for patients with a psychiatric disorder? II. What are the main challenges when establishing irremediable psychiatric suffering in the context of physician assisted death? III. What are suitable criteria for establishing irremediable psychiatric suffering in the context of physician assisted death? METHODOLOGY In order to answer these research questions and to come to a better understanding of the concept of IPS in the context of PAD, we used several research methodologies, inspired by empirical ethics. Empirical ethical research, and hermeneutic approaches in particular, use the lived moral experience of stakeholders to guide moral reflection. (Ives, Dunn, & Cribb, 2016) By exploring the different, and sometimes conflicting, perspectives on a morally complex issue, one can try to develop new and informed ways of dealing with real moral problems. (Widdershoven, Abma, & Molewijk, 2009) In the context of PAD for PPD, the views of psychiatrists who have to establish whether suffering is irremediable constitute an important source of knowledge. Therefore, we will use the moral experience of these professionals to enrich the conceptual debate and to come to clinically applicable consensus criteria about IPS in the context of PAD. In part one of this dissertation, we aim to discern whether establishing irremediability is a clinically relevant issue. First, we will use an ethical-case-report describing an individual case of a PPD requesting PAD (chapter 2). This case report should not be seen as representative for the larger group of patients, but it helps to identify key dilemmas and challenges. Second, we will study the characteristics of PPD who died through PAD and the due diligence procedure that preceded their death, using a series of casefile summaries (chapter 3). In part two, we aim to clarify the challenges that arise in this context. To do this we will start by performing a scoping review on this topic (chapter 4). This type of review combines the rigor of a systematic search that is best suited to identify all relevant literature on a topic, while preserving the openness to synthesize divergent article types in a suitable way. (Munn et al., 2018; Tricco et al., 2018) The knowledge gained from INTRODUCTION | 21 1
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjY0ODMw