The Area of Medicine That Works With Terminally Ill Patients and Their Families Is ________.

Growing Minority of Americans Say Doctors Should Do Everything Possible to Continue Patients Alive

At a time of national contend over health care costs and insurance, a Pew Enquiry Middle survey on terminate-of-life decisions finds well-nigh Americans say there are some circumstances in which doctors and nurses should allow a patient to dice. At the same time, however, a growing minority says that medical professionals should do everything possible to relieve a patient'due south life in all circumstances.

When asked about finish-of-life decisions for other people, two-thirds of Americans (66%) say there are at least some situations in which a patient should be allowed to die, while about a 3rd (31%) say that medical professionals always should practise everything possible to save a patient's life. Over the last quarter-century, the residuum of opinion has moved modestly away from the majority position on this consequence. While still a minority, the share of the public that says doctors and nurses should practise everything possible to relieve a patient'south life has gone upwardly nine percentage points since 2005 and 16 points since 1990.

The uptick comes partly from a modest turn down in the share that says there are circumstances in which a patient should be allowed to die and partly from an increase in the share of the public that expresses an stance; the portion that has no opinion or declines to respond the survey question went down from 12% in 1990 to 8% in 2005 and at present stands at 3%.

When thinking about a more personal situation, many Americans limited preferences for end-of-life medical treatment that vary depending on the verbal circumstances they might face up. A majority of adults say there are at least some situations in which they, personally, would want to halt medical treatment and exist allowed to die. For example, 57% say they would tell their doctors to stop handling if they had a disease with no hope of improvement and were suffering a great bargain of hurting. And about one-half (52%) say they would ask their doctors to stop treatment if they had an incurable disease and were totally dependent on someone else for their care. But about a 3rd of adults (35%) say they would tell their doctors to practise everything possible to keep them alive – even in dire circumstances, such equally having a disease with no hope of comeback and experiencing a neat bargain of pain. In 1990, past comparison, 28% expressed this view. This modest uptick stems largely from an increase in the share of the public that expresses a preference on these questions; the share maxim they would end their treatments so they could die has remained about the aforementioned over the by 23 years.

At the same time, a growing share of Americans likewise believe individuals accept a moral correct to end their own lives. Near six-in-ten adults (62%) say that a person suffering a great deal of hurting with no promise of comeback has a moral right to commit suicide, upwards from 55% in 1990. A 56% majority also says this nearly those who take an incurable disease, up from 49% in 1990. While far fewer (38%) believe at that place is a moral right to suicide when someone is "prepare to die because living has become a burden," the share saying this is up 11 percentage points, from 27% in 1990. About a 3rd of adults (32%) say a person has a moral correct to suicide when he or she "is an extremely heavy burden on his or her family," roughly the same share as in 1990 (29%).

Meanwhile, the public remains closely divided on the issue of physician-assisted suicide: 47% approve and 49% disapprove of laws that would allow a physician to prescribe lethal doses of drugs that a terminally sick patient could utilise to commit suicide. Attitudes on physician-assisted suicide were roughly the same in 2005 (when 46% approved and 45% disapproved).

Organized religion and Terminate-of-Life Care

Personal preferences about end-of-life handling are strongly related to religious affiliation as well as race and ethnicity. For example, most white mainline Protestants (72%), white Catholics (65%) and white evangelical Protestants (62%) say they would finish their medical handling if they had an incurable disease and were suffering a great deal of pain. (Encounter the chart in Personal Wishes department below.) By dissimilarity, nearly blackness Protestants (61%) and 57% of Hispanic Catholics say they would tell their doctors to practice everything possible to salvage their lives in the aforementioned circumstances. On rest, blacks and Hispanics are less likely than whites to say they would halt medical treatment if they faced these kinds of situations.

Religious groups as well differ strongly in their beliefs almost the morality of suicide. About half of white evangelical Protestants and black Protestants reject the idea that a person has a moral right to suicide in all four circumstances described in the survey. By comparing, the religiously unaffiliated, white mainline Protestants and white Catholics are more probable to say there is a moral right to commit suicide in each of the four situations considered. There is a similar pattern among religious groups when information technology comes to allowing dr.-assisted suicide for the terminally ill. (See the chart in Physician-Assisted Suicide for the Terminally Ill section below.)

These are some of the fundamental findings from the Pew Inquiry Center telephone survey, which was conducted on landlines and cellphones from March 21 to April 8, 2013, among a nationally representative sample of one,994 adults. The margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. For more than details, see Appendix A: Survey Methodology.

Preparing for Finish-of-Life Decisions

The share of the full U.S. population that is historic period 65 and older has more than than tripled over the last century, from roughly 4% in 1900 to xiv% in 2012. Merely despite the graying of America, a sizable minority of the populace has non thought about the kinds of medical decisions that people increasingly face up every bit they age. Nearly four-in-ten U.S. adults (37%) say they have given a great bargain of idea to their wishes for medical treatment at the end of their lives, and an additional 35% accept given some idea to these issues. But fully a quarter of adults (27%) say they have not given very much thought or have given no idea at all to how they would like doctors and other medical professionals to handle their medical handling at the end of their lives.

Fifty-fifty amongst Americans ages 75 and older, 1-in-four say they have non given very much or any thought to their end-of-life wishes. Further, one-in-five Americans ages 75 and older (22%) say they accept neither written down nor talked with someone about their wishes for medical handling at the stop of their lives. And 3-in-10 of those who depict their health as off-white or poor have neither written down nor talked about their wishes with anyone, according to the Pew Research survey.

There has been only modest change over time in the level of public attention to, and preparation for, stop-of-life medical decisions. The share of Americans who report having given a swell deal of thought to their own wishes for end-of-life medical treatment (37%) is roughly the aforementioned as it was in a 2005 Pew Research Center survey and up modestly from 23 years ago, when 28% said they had given a great deal of thought to their wishes. About a third of all adults (35%) say they have put their wishes for terminate-of-life decisions into writing, whether in an informal document (such every bit a letter to a relative) or a formal, legal one (such equally a living will or health care directive). That share is virtually the same as in 2005 (34%) and upwardly from virtually one-in-six (sixteen%) in 1990.¹

The vast majority of people who have given a great deal of thought to their ain wishes have either written down or talked about their wishes with someone else (88%). Conversely, only nearly three-in-x (31%) of those who say they have non given very much or any thought to their wishes have written down or talked about their wishes.

Americans with more than education and higher incomes are more likely than those with less education and lower incomes to have communicated their wishes for end-of-life intendance. Whites are more probable than blacks or Hispanics to take made their wishes known. Those who have not written downward or talked about their wishes are more than probable than those who accept made their wishes known to say they would desire doctors and nurses to do everything possible to keep them alive if they were facing a dire medical situation.

Attending to, grooming for and preferences virtually terminate-of-life medical treatments too are correlated with historic period. Younger adults, especially those ages xviii-49, are less probable than their older counterparts to have thought about these issues and to have put their wishes for end-of-life handling in writing. Younger generations likewise are less inclined to say they would tell their doctors to terminate treatment if they were facing a serious illness. Differences in personal preferences amongst Americans ages l and older are relatively muted, however. For case, if faced with an incurable affliction and experiencing a great deal of pain, six-in-ten or more of those ages fifty-64, 65-74, and 75 and older say they would tell their doctors to stop treatment so they could dice, while 22-24% of each historic period group says they would tell their doctors to do everything possible to salve their lives in those circumstances.

Other findings from the survey include:

• Many Americans have faced end-of-life medical bug through experiences with friends or relatives. Nigh half of adults (47%) say they have a friend or relative who has had a terminal illness or who has been in a coma inside the last five years. This experience cuts across virtually social and demographic groups, including historic period, gender, education and religious affiliation. And about half of these adults (23% of the general public) report that the issue of withholding life-sustaining handling arose for their loved i.
• A strong majority of the public (78%) says that a close family fellow member should be allowed to make decisions on behalf of a patient toward the terminate of life if the patient is unable to communicate his or her ain wishes. At the same fourth dimension, a substantial minority of adults (38%) say that parents have a right to turn down treatment on behalf of an infant born with a life-threatening defect, while 57% say such an infant should receive equally much treatment as possible, regardless of the defect.
• In an aging guild, Americans see a number of characteristics and functions every bit important to a good quality of life. About half of adults (49%) rate being able to talk or communicate as extremely important for a good quality of life in older age; similar shares say being able to feed oneself (45%), getting enjoyment out of life (44%) and living without astringent, long-lasting pain (43%) are extremely important for a good quality of life in older historic period. Adults ages 75 and older are less inclined than younger generations to rate 7 of the viii characteristics included in the survey as important for a good quality of life.

The rest of this Overview discusses the central findings of the survey in greater detail.

An Aging America With Limited Attention to Preparation for Dying

Advances in health and medicine have helped Americans alive longer, with the average life expectancy in the U.S. now 78.7 years.² Small simply steady increases in longevity coupled with brackish or failing fertility rates over the past several decades accept led to a growing elderly population. The share of the total U.S. population (including children and adults) that is age 65 and older has more than tripled over the terminal century – rising from roughly 4% in 1900 to 14% in 2012 – and is expected to attain about a 5th of the total U.S. population by the yr 2060, according to projections by U.S. Census Bureau.³ However, roughly a quarter of U.S. adults (27%) say they have given either no thought or not very much thought to their own wishes when it comes to end-of-life medical handling.

Most one-half of the general public has at least indirect experience with terminate-of-life treatment issues: 47% of adults say they take had a close friend or relative facing a terminal illness or in a coma within the past five years, and nearly a fifth of U.S. adults (23%) written report that the question of whether to withhold life-sustaining treatment arose for that person.⁴ Simply the share of Americans who say they have given a great bargain or some thought to their own wishes for finish-of-life medical treatment (37%) is roughly the same as when last tracked in a 2005 Pew Research survey and upward only modestly from 1990, when 28% said this.

Near a third of adults (35%) say their wishes are written down, whether informally or in a formal document such as a living volition or a health care directive. The electric current share of adults who have put their wishes in writing is about the aforementioned as it was in 2005 (34%) and is up sharply from about one-in-half-dozen (xvi%) in 1990.^v Additionally, roughly 6-in-ten adults today (62%) say they have talked with someone about their wishes for end-of-life medical treatment.

Personal Wishes

When it comes to personal preferences for end-of-life treatment, public attitudes are far from blackness and white, with preferences that vary depending on the situation.

For case, a majority of adults (57%) say they would tell their doctors to finish their medical treatment and then they could die if they had an incurable disease and were suffering a great deal of pain, while a sizable minority (35%) say they would tell their doctors to do everything possible to save their lives in that situation. Nigh one-half of the public (52%) says they would have their doctors stop medical handling if they faced an incurable disease that made them totally dependent on someone else for care, while 37% say they would pursue all treatment options in such circumstances. And the public is evenly divided about what to practice in a situation involving an incurable illness that made it hard to part in day-to-mean solar day activities: 46% say they would tell their doctors to finish treatment under those circumstances, while an identical percentage say they would want their doctors to exercise everything possible to salvage their lives.

Looking beyond this set of iii scenarios, well-nigh a third of adults (32%) consistently say they would tell their doctors to stop medical treatment in all three of these circumstances; a fifth (20%) say they would tell their doctors to do everything possible to salve their lives in all iii cases, and 46% give differing responses depending on the exact circumstances.

Personal preferences virtually end-of-life medical treatment have changed merely modestly over fourth dimension. A somewhat greater share of the public expresses a preference on this set of questions today than did so in by years, and a somewhat greater share of adults today say they would do everything possible to save their lives if they had an incurable disease in all three of these circumstances, especially compared with survey findings from 1990. Nonetheless, the balance of personal preferences has been roughly the same in all 3 circumstances since 1990.

Personal preferences for medical handling differ past historic period. For case, a strong bulk of adults ages 50 and older say they would tell their doctors to stop handling and let them to die if they were suffering a great deal of hurting from an incurable disease. By comparison, 42% of adults under age xxx say they would do the aforementioned, and about half (51%) of adults ages 30-49 say they would tell doctors to finish their handling so they could die.

At that place are also substantial differences across racial and ethnic groups when it comes to personal choices about medical treatment. Whites are more inclined than either blacks or Hispanics to say they would end their medical treatment in these kinds of circumstances. For example, about two-thirds of whites (65%) say they would want to be allowed to die if they had an incurable affliction and were suffering a great deal of pain, compared with 26% who say they would ask their doctors to do everything possible to salvage their lives in such circumstances. By contrast, a majority of blacks (61%) and about half of Hispanics (55%) say they would tell their doctors to practice everything possible to save their lives if they had an incurable disease and were suffering a swell deal of pain.

Personal preferences likewise tend to differ past religious affiliation. Black Protestants are least inclined to say they would ask their doctors to stop their medical handling so they could die if faced with an incurable disease and experiencing a smashing bargain of hurting; 32% say they would stop treatment, while a majority (61%) of black Protestants say they would want their doctors do everything possible to save their lives in this situation. The residue of opinion is similar among Hispanic Catholics: 38% would finish treatment, while 57% would tell their doctors to exercise everything possible to salvage their lives.

White mainline Protestants are near inclined to say they would ask their doctors to end medical handling in these circumstances (72%), followed by white Catholics (65%) and white evangelical Protestants (62%). Amid the religiously unaffiliated, 61% say they would want to stop handling, while a third would tell their doctors to exercise everything possible to save their lives.

People who take given more idea to their personal wishes when information technology comes to cease-of-life treatment issues are also more inclined to say they would stop their treatment so they could die if they were suffering from an incurable illness in all iii of the circumstances addressed in the survey. For case, about two-thirds of those who have given a dandy bargain of thought to their wishes (64%) say they would end treatment so they could die if they had an incurable affliction and were suffering a peachy deal of pain. Amid those who take non given very much or whatsoever thought to their own wishes, fewer (47%) accept that position.

Similarly, those who have either talked most or written down their wishes regarding end-of-life treatment are more inclined to say they would tell their doctors to stop treatment if they had an incurable disease and were suffering a great bargain of pain.

General Views About End-of-Life Treatment

The Pew Research survey also asked a question near end-of-life medical decisions for other people. Respondents were asked to choose betwixt 2 statements: 1) Doctors and nurses should practice everything possible to save the life of a patient in all circumstances, or 2) Sometimes in that location are circumstances in which a patient should be allowed to die. The survey question poses a stark contrast, and both options exit the hypothetical patient's own wishes unstated. Nevertheless, this forced-choice question provides a useful gauge of overall public attitudes near stop-of-life treatment.

Two-thirds of U.S. adults (66%) say there are sometimes situations when a patient should be allowed to die, while about three-in-ten (31%) say that under all circumstances medical personnel should do everything possible to save a patient's life. The view that sometimes a patient should be immune to die has remained the majority position in Pew Research surveys since 1990. Still, the share of the public that says in that location are circumstances in which a patient should be immune to dice has declined slightly over that period. More than adults express an opinion today than did so in 1990, and the share of adults who say doctors and nurses e'er should practise everything possible to save a patient's life has grown.

Compared with 1990, all historic period groups are now more inclined to say that medical personnel always should practice everything possible to save a patient's life. However, this change over fourth dimension is specially pronounced amidst younger generations.^half-dozen

Overall views about end-of-life medical treatment are strongly associated with religious amalgamation as well every bit race and ethnicity. White Catholics (80%) and white mainline Protestants (76%) are particularly likely to say at that place are circumstances in which a patient should be allowed to dice. A bulk of white evangelical Protestants (68%) also concord this view. By contrast, a majority of Hispanic Catholics (66%) and 54% of black Protestants say medical staff should do everything possible to salvage a patient's life in all circumstances.

Whites are more inclined than either blacks or Hispanics to say there are some circumstances in which a patient should be allowed to die.

Opinions on this issue too tend to vary by historic period. Almost half or more of respondents in all historic period groups say there are times when a patient should be allowed to die. Simply older respondents are more than inclined than younger ones to take this position. Younger adults ages 18-29 are most closely divided, with 54% maxim there are circumstances in which a patient should be allowed to dice and 43% proverb medical personnel ever should do everything possible to save a patient'south life.

Every bit with personal preferences about stop-of-life treatment, those who say they accept given more thought to their personal wishes on these issues are more than inclined to say there are times when a patient should be immune to die.

Americans' attitudes toward the cost and efficacy of medical intendance also are associated with their views well-nigh finish-of-life treatment. The survey asked respondents whether medical treatments these days are generally "worth the costs because they permit people to live longer and improve quality lives" or whether today'south medical treatments "often create as many problems as they solve." Nearly seven-in-x (72%) of those who say medical treatments these days "ofttimes create as many problems equally they solve" recollect there are times when a patient should be allowed to die. Fewer, though all the same a majority (62%), of those who say that medical treatments "permit people to live longer and better quality lives" think at that place are times when a patient should exist allowed to dice.

Overall views almost terminate-of-life medical treatment are not strongly related to political political party. Democrats are somewhat more than inclined than Republicans to say that doctors and nurses should do everything possible to save a patient's life in all circumstances, but these differences disappear after controlling for race and ethnicity. Among white, non-Hispanic respondents, there are no significant differences in overall views most end-of-life treatment past party affiliation.

Who Should Make up one's mind?

In that location is potent agreement in the general public that a close family member should exist allowed to make medical treatment decisions when a patient is incapacitated and his or her wishes are non otherwise known (for example, through a written document or a prior discussion with the attending doctor). Near 8-in-ten adults (78%) say the closest family unit member should be allowed to make decisions on behalf of a patient in such circumstances, while xvi% disagree. The balance of opinion on this question has remained steady since 1990.

However, views on another question involving proxy decision-making illustrate the degree to which attitudes on these kinds of issues often depend on the detail circumstances. The Pew Enquiry survey asked about a hypothetical situation in which a child is born with a life-threatening birth defect. In this case, virtually iv-in-10 adults (38%) say a parent has a right to refuse treatment on behalf of an infant, while a majority (57%) says the infant should receive equally much treatment as possible, no matter what the defect.

Views nearly a parent's office as decision-maker in these circumstances are strongly related to religion as well race and ethnicity and opinion about the moral acceptability of abortion. Come across Affiliate v for details.

Physician-Assisted Suicide for the Terminally Ill

Public opinion on laws that would allow physician-assisted suicide is closely divided, with 47% blessing and 49% disapproving of laws that would allow medical doctors to prescribe lethal doses of drugs for terminally ill patients who choose to commit suicide.⁷

Views on this issue are largely the aforementioned today as in the 2005 Pew Research survey. Surveys by Gallup have found a similar – and largely stable – divide in public stance over whether doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable or morally wrong (45% say information technology is morally acceptable and 49% say it is morally wrong in Gallup'due south most recent survey on the topic, conducted in May 2013).

There are sizable differences in opinion well-nigh this issue by race and ethnicity besides every bit religion. Whites are more inclined to favor laws allowing doctor-assisted suicide than are either blacks or Hispanics.

A majority of white mainline Protestants (61%) and well-nigh half of white Catholics (55%) approve of laws that allow physician-assisted suicide, as do two-thirds of religiously unaffiliated adults. However, past a margin of nigh two-to-one or more than, blackness Protestants, white evangelical Protestants and Hispanic Catholics disapprove of laws that allow doctor-assisted suicide.

Behavior About Suicide

Public attitudes about the morality of suicide tend to vary depending on the circumstances. Near six-in-10 adults (62%) believe people have a moral correct to end their own lives if they are suffering great pain and have no promise of improvement. A bulk (56%) likewise believes people take a moral right to finish their lives if they are suffering from an incurable disease. But far fewer meet a moral correct to suicide when a person is "ready to die because living has get a burden" (38%) or when a person is "an extremely heavy brunt on his or her family unit" (32%).

Compared with surveys conducted in 1990 and 2005, there has been a minor uptick in the conventionalities that suicide is morally justified under iii of these iv circumstances. The changes stem mostly from an increased share of the public taking a position on these questions (instead of saying "don't know") in contempo years rather than a refuse in the share proverb there is not a moral correct to suicide nether these atmospheric condition. There is i exception to this design: Compared with 1990, in that location has been an increase in the share of the public that says suicide is non morally justified when a person is an extremely heavy burden on his or her family.

Views nearly the morality of suicide are strongly related to religious amalgamation. White evangelical Protestants and black Protestants are least inclined to believe suicide is morally justified. About half or more than white evangelical Protestants and black Protestants reject the idea of a moral right to suicide in each of the iv circumstances included in the survey.

The unaffiliated, followed by white mainline Protestants and white Catholics, are especially probable to say there is a moral right to suicide under each of these circumstances. Amidst each group, about six-in-10 or more believe a person is morally justified in catastrophe his or her life when suffering great pain with no hope of improvement and when facing an incurable illness.

Beliefs about the morality of suicide besides tend to vary by race and ethnicity. On boilerplate, whites are more inclined than either blacks or Hispanics to say people have a moral right to end their lives under any of these iv circumstances.

Aging and Life Assessments

Views virtually aging and perceptions most the quality of life in older age may play a role in people's thoughts and opinions nigh end-of-life medical treatment.

Assessments of one'due south personal life are strongly colored by one'south place in the life cycle. When asked to reflect on their personal lives today compared with x years agone, older adults are much less inclined than younger ones to run across improvement. Just three-in-ten adults ages 75 and older say their lives today are meliorate than they were a decade before. By contrast, most twice every bit many adults ages 18-49 (66%) say their lives are ameliorate today than in the past.

By the aforementioned token, optimism for the time to come is harder to observe amid older generations. Only most a fifth (19%) of adults ages 75 and older expect their lives to get meliorate in the time to come. By contrast, fully 71% of adults nether age 50 expect their lives to be better in 10 years, and 46% of those ages 50-64 are optimistic that their lives will ameliorate.

However, assessments of nowadays life circumstances are only modestly associated with historic period. Fully eight-in-ten U.South. adults (81%), including 76% of those ages 75 and older, say they are satisfied with their personal lives today.

And assessments of life in specific domains – including financial condition and social relationships – differ only modestly across age groups, with one notable exception – health status, which is inversely related to age. A third of adults nether age l say their wellness is excellent. Only virtually half as many adults ages 65 and older say the same (16% each among those ages 65-74 and those ages 75 and older).

Ratings of social relationships, such as the number of friends one has, are simply modestly related to age. Marital status tends to vary with the adult life cycle, just a majority of those who are married – whether they are older or younger – tend to say their human relationship with their spouse is splendid.

And while fewer adults ages 65 and older are in the workforce, ratings of personal finances are not strongly associated with age. For example, 17% of adults ages 75 and older consider their personal financial situation to exist splendid, compared with 11% among adults ages eighteen-49 and thirteen% among those ages 50-64.

The Pew Research survey also explores public views most the weather condition that make for meliorate quality of life in older age. Several characteristics and functions are seen by at to the lowest degree four-in-ten Americans as "extremely important" for a proficient quality of life in older age, including existence able to talk or communicate with others (49%), being able to feed oneself (45%), getting enjoyment out of life (44%) and living without astringent, long-lasting pain (43%). A somewhat smaller share says other qualities are extremely of import for a skilful quality of life in older age, including long-term memory for the important people and experiences in one's life (37%), feeling what one does in life is worthwhile (37%) and existence able to wearing apparel oneself (36%). Three-in-ten adults say that having short-term memory well-nigh events that happened today is extremely important for a proficient quality of life in older age.

Older adults, especially those ages 75 and older who may have learned to live with some of these characteristics as role of their everyday lives, are less inclined than younger generations to rate all merely 1 of these characteristics as extremely important for a skillful quality of life. (In that location are no age differences in the perceived importance of being able to dress oneself.) Still, within all age groups, the largest share agrees that existence able to communicate with others is extremely important.

Almost the Survey

Bug surrounding the finish of life accept sparked public debate for many decades and loom large in the lives of many Americans. This survey is part of the Pew Research Center's ongoing attempt to track public views about finish-of-life medical treatments and, more than broadly, bioethical questions at the intersection of religion and public life. Pew Research starting time conducted a survey on this topic in 1990, and a follow-up study was completed in 2005, shortly after the legal battle over treatment for Terri Schiavo drew national attention.^eight Much has changed in the ensuing years, including dramatic increases in health intendance costs and more than a decade of public conversation over health intendance access and commitment, which continues today.

This is the 2d of 2 major reports by the Pew Enquiry Centre's Religion and Public Life Project on the findings of a survey on bioethics questions. The first survey study, "Living to 120 and Across: Americans' Views on Aging, Medical Advances and Radical Life Extension," which was released in August 2013, explored attitudes about the prospect – still largely speculative – of living dramatically longer lives. This 2d written report looks, instead, at the electric current land of medical treatments for the seriously ill. It explores public attitudes and beliefs about finish-of-life medical treatment every bit well as physician-assisted suicide and the morality of taking one's ain life. The survey was conducted by telephone on landlines and cellphones from March 21 to Apr 8, 2013, among a nationally representative sample of 1,994 adults. The margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 2.9 per centum points.

Many Pew Research staff members contributed to the development of this survey and the accompanying reports. Senior Researcher Cary Funk was the principal researcher on the survey and the lead author of the written report. Senior Researcher David Masci was the principal writer of two companion reports (described beneath). Their efforts were guided by Faith & Public Life Projection Deputy Director Alan Cooperman and Project Managing director Luis Lugo. The survey questionnaire and assay benefited from the guidance of a number of others at the Pew Research Center, including Andrew Kohut, Scott Keeter, Paul Taylor, Susannah Fox, Jon Cohen and Alan Murray. Data analysis and number checking assistance was provided past Jessica Hamar Martinez and Elizabeth Sciupac. Other staff who contributed to the written report include Sandra Stencel, Erin O'Connell, Michael Lipka, Joseph Liu, Tracy Miller, Liga Plaveniece, Katherine Ritchey, Stacy Rosenberg and Bill Webster. Fieldwork for the survey was ably carried out past Princeton Survey Research Associates International.

Roadmap to the Report

The remainder of this report details the survey'south findings on end-of-life medical treatment and related issues, including aging and suicide. The first chapter looks at public views on laws assuasive md-assisted suicide. The second chapter covers beliefs about the morality of suicide under different conditions. The third affiliate goes into particular on the public'due south personal preferences for cease-of-life medical handling, how much attention people accept given to end-of-life issues and what, if whatever, efforts they accept taken to communicate their wishes for handling. The fourth affiliate looks at public attitudes on end-of-life medical treatment in a more general context and how those views have changed over time. The fifth chapter explores views most proxy medical treatment decisions for adults as well equally for infants born with life-threatening defects. The sixth affiliate looks at the public's views on aging in full general and levels of personal life satisfaction as they relate to age and to end-of-life treatment issues.

Together with the survey results, Pew Research is releasing iii accompanying pieces. "To Cease Our Days: The Social, Legal and Political Dimensions of the Cease-of-Life Contend" presents an overview of the public contend on these issues in the terminal half-century in the U.Due south. An interactive timeline highlights key events and developments on the issue. "Religious Groups' Views on End-of-Life Issues" describes what 16 major American religious traditions teach almost ane controversial aspect of the debate: physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Photo Credit: © Tim Pannell/Corbis

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Source: https://www.pewforum.org/2013/11/21/views-on-end-of-life-medical-treatments/

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