The Experience of Assisted Suicide in The Netherlands and in the State of Oregon in USA: What can we learn?
Michael McCabe
Issue 9, April 2003
On April 9, 2003, the New Zealand Parliament was due to debate Peter Brown's Private Member's Bill entitled "Death with Dignity." The bill's stated purpose is: to "allow persons who are terminally and/or incurably ill the opportunity of requesting assistance from a medically qualified person to end their lives in a humane and dignified way and to provide for that to occur after medical confirmation, a psychiatric assessment, counselling, and personal reflection."
Editorial : Faith and Reason - Reflections on a debate...
Michael McCabe
Issue 10, August 2003
In July 2003 the New Zealand Parliament voted 60 to 57 against a Private Member's Bill, "The Death with Dignity Bill" that sought to legalise euthanasia, or more correctly, physician-assisted suicide. The seemingly close vote contained a number of Parliamentary members who, while against the Bill, wished it to go to a Select committee to allow further public debate.
International Colloquium: Globalization and the Culture of Life : Care of the Frail Elderly and the Dying
Michael McCabe
Issue 10, August 2003
July 29-August 3, 2003
Recently Father Michael McCabe, Director of The Nathaniel Centre attended the inaugural Colloquium for Catholic Bioethicists in Toronto, Canada. The Colloquium was organised by the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Centre and sponsored by the Knights of Malta. Bioethicists and moral theologians from over 20 countries considered the care of the frail elderly and the dying from the perspective of globalization.
Gospel Perspectives for an Embodied Spirituality of Care
Ann-Marie Harvey rsm
Issue 11, November 2003
"Why do we need God for ethics, for the work of humanisation? Do not unbelievers do some things better?" [1]
Introduction
This address investigates issues of spirituality that arise in aged care and it invites participants at this conference to examine ways whereby people in the third age not only grow in prayerfulness, but also in resistance to social marginalisation and diminishment. [2] Just as ethics is the link between the mystical and the prophetic life of Christians, so an embodied spirituality of care offers a humanising link between an ethics of care and an ethics of justice. Three perspectives of God's word at work in the world are discussed: fullness of life in a wounded world, a gospel reflection on "The Woman with the Ointment", and a critique of ideology.
Some Musings on Care for the Elderly in General Practice
Dr Aine McCoy
Issue 12, April 2004
Many of my elderly patients tell me that it is no fun getting old. My standard reply is that the alternative isn't that great either!
The elderly present us with many challenges medically, socially and spiritually, but my experience in providing care to them has been an enjoyable one. I have come to appreciate some of the things that the elderly value in their carers. These include being a good listener, having a sense of humour, being there for continuity of care, being treated with respect and having their opinions valued, especially when they do not accord with yours.
Stepping Out Into Aged Care - Acknowledging Possibility
Dr Bernard Leuthart
Issue 12, April 2004
The potent imagery of the dance is fascinating for the rich storehouse of metaphor it offers for elaborating on the type of movement potentiated in the work of the caring ministries. American educator, Maria Harris draws here on the wisdom of one Bill Maroon – a student of haiku somewhere - who offered this potent snippet as a metaphor for the sort of interaction that happens in the teaching moment between the learner and the learned.
The Hospice Movement in New Zealand - 25 Years On
Michael McCabe
Issue 13, August 2004
In June 1979 New Zealand's first hospice, Mary Potter Hospice, was opened in Wellington. Later that year, Te Omanga Hospice in Lower Hutt, and Saint Joseph's Mercy Hospice in Auckland, were also opened. Just twelve years earlier, Saint Christopher's Hospice in London, symbolically referred to as the first modern hospice, was opened.
The Voice of Your Despair
Rod MacLeod
Issue 13, August 2004
"Can I see another's woe and not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another's grief and not seek for kind relief?"
William Blake's words must surely strike a chord with all those who have followed the trial and subsequent conviction of Lesley Martin for the attempted murder of her mother, Joy. Sadly Joy Martin, an apparently private and dignified woman has had her illness, suffering and death made widely known to the New Zealand public and beyond. The trial process necessarily investigated all aspects of her initial presentation to hospital, subsequent management and the ensuing months of pain, nausea, vomiting, isolation and distress. Those who have read the deposition hearing documents, Lesley Martin's own account of events in her book and the hundreds of pages of evidence given at the trial in Wanganui in March of this year cannot fail to be moved by this harrowing account of one woman's journey through illness towards death.
Subcategories
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Euthanasia
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