Register for the next Compassionate Community Care - Visitor Training Program - July 9 and 10.

Kathy Matusiak Costa

Register for the free online visitor training program and becoming involved with visiting people in your community who are elderly and/or living alone.

 

Register online (Registration Link).

 

Caring for people. Gain the confidence to journey with those who are lonely, socially isolated, sick, or dying, to renew their hope and purpose in living until they die.

 

Alex Schadenberg

FREE Online Training – Live on Zoom! 

The Training Workshop is composed of two sessions, each session is two hours held on: 

Wednesday July 9 (7 pm - 9 pm) (EST)

Thursday July 10 (7 pm - 9 pm) (EST)

With Kathy Matusiak Costa, Executive Director of Compassionate Community Care, and Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. 

Register online now: (Registration Link)

 

Compassionate Community Care: 

383 Horton St. E, London, ON N6B 1L6
Office tel. 519-439-6445 

info@beingwith.org • www.beingwith.org

CCC Helpline: 1-855-675-8749

 

Charitable registration # 824667869RR0001

The Health Impacts of Seniors' Loneliness.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

In the past, The Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) was a strong promoter of Canada's euthanasia law and expansions of that law, but a new CARP initiative tackling Seniors Loneliness is worthwhile. In a recent update on Seniors' Loneliness CARP states:

Social isolation is a serious issue when it comes to seniors and a signal of a dysfunctional society. It’s estimated that almost 30% of Canadian seniors live alone – and without strong community connections, many of these seniors suffer silently from loneliness and depression.

Loneliness can impact physical and mental well-being. Isolation can lead to depression, which in turn can further exacerbate health issues. For example, depression in older adults is tied to a higher risk of cardiac diseases. At the same time, depression reduces an older person’s ability to recover from illness.

Depression is not a typical part of aging. Yet it is estimated that 20% of older adults experience symptoms – like persistent sadness, loss of interest in activities, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness and even suicidal thoughts – and rates increase up to 40% for those in hospitals and long-term care homes.

These numbers are a warning sign of a public health crisis hiding in plain sight. The World Health Organization recently named loneliness a global health priority, urging countries to take action. And the science is clear: chronic isolation is more harmful than smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

While CARP is promoting their initiative to counter Senior's Loneliness, I want to reiterate my support for the Compassionate Community Care charity that also focuses on reducing Seniors' Loneliness.

While CARP has strongly promoted euthanasia (MAiD) in the past, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition recognizes how loneliness can lead to requests euthanasia. Many people who are living with difficult health conditions also feel lonely, feel hopeless and begin to believe that they have no further reason to live. 

Instead of offering these people death, they should be offered support from a caring community who reasures them that they are important and that they still have a reason to live.

Contact the Compassionate Community Care charity (CCC) to join the Visitor Training program or become trained to provide advocacy for your family members or people who you know. CCC also provides a calling service for contacting lonely seniors who simply need someone to talk to or someone to listen.

Study: Suicide risk increases with loneliness and depression.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on March 26, 2025 looked at 3,764,279 Korean adults who are living alone. The study found that depression or anxiety was associated with a significantly higher risk of suicide, particularly among middle-aged individuals (aged 40 to 64 years) and men.

This is significant since people who live alone with depression or anxiety are also more likely to die by euthanasia or assisted suicide.

Canada's Fifth Annual MAiD Report found that there were 15,343 Canadian euthanasia deaths in 2023 with 4.1% of these deaths being (Track 2) people who did not have a terminal condition. For those who had a terminal condition (Track 1) 21.1% listed isolation and loneliness as a reason for their suffering and for those who did not have a terminal condition (Track 2) 47.1% listed isolation and loneliness as a reason for their suffering. (Figure 3.6a)

The Korean study found:

In this national cohort study of 3 764 279 individuals, we examined the association between living arrangements, depression, anxiety, and suicide risk. Our study yielded 3 primary findings: (1) individuals with depression or anxiety living alone were associated with an increased risk of suicide, (2) the highest risk was observed in individuals living alone with both depression and anxiety, and (3) males and individuals aged 40 to 64 years living alone with depression or anxiety faced the highest suicide risk. These findings remained consistent after adjustments for demographic, lifestyle, and clinical factors, as well as across different follow-up periods, highlighting the combined association of living arrangements and mental health conditions with suicide risk.

In Canada, The National Institute on Aging (NIR) released a report on December 5, 2023 titled: Understanding the Factors Driving the Epidemic of Social Isolation and Loneliness among Older Canadians.

Based on the Canadian data almost 3,400 Canadians who died by euthanasia in 2023 listed loneliness and isolation as a reason for their suffering. I have stated in the past that the data on loneliness and isolation, in the euthanasia report, is low, since many people who are living with difficult health conditions will list other concerns, even when loneliness and isolation are prime reasons for their request.

When comparing the Canadian data to Canada's euthanasia data, at that time, I stated:

Loneliness and isolation are key issues for people who are considering death by euthanasia. When I have discussed the reasons with someone who is considering euthanasia or has already been approved for euthanasia, the discussion most often is about feelings of loneliness, isolation, depression or feelings of hopelessness.

More articles concerning loneliness:

• 41% of older Canadians experience loneliness (Link).
• Loneliness is an epidemic with profound risks to health and life (Link). 
• Loneliness as a root cause for symptom distress among older adults (Link). 
• A wish to die is most often linked to loneliness and depression (Link). 
• Study uncovers euthanasia deaths based on loneliness in the Netherlands (Link).
  

Canada Euthanasia – unmasking health care and social failures

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Dr Ramona Coelho

Dr Ramona Coelho is a Family Physician; Senior Fellow of Domestic and Health Policy at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute; Member of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Death Review Committee

Dr Coelho has written an excellent commentary on Canada's experience with euthanasia (MAiD) that was published by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute on January 8, 2025. 

Dr Coelho is commenting on Health Canada's Fifth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying. Coelho writes:

Health Canada’s recently released Fifth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2023 reveals that 15,343 individuals died by MAiD, 622 of them following Track 2. By the end of 2023, the cumulative number of MAiD deaths reached 60,000 – 4.7 per cent of all deaths nationally since the program was launched. The annual growth rate continues to rise significantly, at 15.8 per cent.

Regional reported trends highlight extreme increases in growth, with Quebec experiencing a 36.3 per cent increase, Ontario at 30.3 per cent, and British Columbia at 18.0 per cent. These provinces account for 85 per cent of all MAiD provisions. In Quebec, where only euthanasia is allowed, it accounted for more than 7 per cent of all deaths. Quebec’s government recently commissioned a study to better understand why so many people in the province are resorting to euthanasia.

Canada legalized MAiD (euthanasia and assisted suicide) in June 2016 by creating an exemption in the Criminal Code for homicide or aiding suicide. Coelho mentions that in 2023 there were 15,343 MAiD deaths whereby 5 of the deaths were assisted suicide while the rest were euthanasia.

Some of the MAiD deaths were based on discrimination, inadequate access to health care, mental health services, disability supports and social care. Coelho explains:

Supporters of MAiD often cite autonomy and compassion as validations for the practice. However, as a society, we cannot ignore the troubling reality that, for many individuals, the desire for assisted death can often reflect systemic failures: discrimination, inadequate access to health care, mental health services, disability supports, and social care.

Even the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), which filed the Carter case that led to the 2015 decriminalization of physician-assisted suicide in Canada, has now expressed concerns about the misuse of MAiD. They acknowledge reports of individuals being offered MAiD in circumstances that might not meet the legal criteria, as well as cases where people may resort to MAiD due to intolerable social conditions, and have asserted that they will hold the government accountable.

Suffering was not necessarily related to physical suffering.

As the Health Canada report cites, the overall drivers of intolerable suffering include loneliness and isolation (21 per cent for Track 1 vs. 47 per cent for Track 2), emotional distress, anxiety, fear, or existential suffering (39 per cent for Track 1 vs. 35 per cent for Track 2) and a perceived burden on family, friends or caregivers (45 per cent for Track 1 vs. 49 per cent for Track 2). It is deeply troubling that loneliness, the fear of being a burden, and general fear are leading people to choose death. All of these issues should be addressed with better care, not with the provision of death. When people lack timely access to adequate health care, housing, or proper support – or even simply genuine care and love – offering death as a “choice” is not compassionate, it can be a form of neglect.

Euthanasia in Canada is often presented as an option when the person is at their lowest. Coelho explains:

Consider patients in palliative care. Cancer patients, for instance, often face significant barriers to accessing mental health support and proper symptom management. How can a request for MAiD be free and informed when better support isn’t available? Alarmingly, Health Canada suggests that health care providers should consider proactively raising MAiD as an option, but this approach raises serious ethical concerns. Are we genuinely prioritizing care, or are we normalizing death as a default?

This tension illustrates how systemic neglect can muddy the waters of autonomy. When cases of euthanasia are documented for persons whose pain is poorly managed, or whose care is inadequate, is the decision to request MAiD truly autonomous? When feeling like a burden, or when loneliness or fear of prolonged suffering are the factors driving the decision, the choices are not made in true freedom but are borne of anguish and desperation, reflecting the reality of unmet needs. These dynamics demonstrate that suffering can distort autonomy and can turn MAiD into the result of systemic failures rather than an expression of true choice.

Euthanasia is not a type of medical treatment.

MAiD does not align with medicine’s core purpose and has been incoherently integrated into medical practice. As Harvey Chochinov and Joseph Fins argue, medicine is fundamentally about healing, restoration, and tailoring care to address specific conditions. In contrast, MAiD offers no pathway to healing; it ends life, removing the possibility of further care, closure, or recovery. Unlike standard medical practice, which relies on evidence-based guidelines and individualized decision-making to manage symptoms and diseases while minimizing harm, MAiD is legislatively mandated, lacks nuance and adaptability, and serves only to end the sufferer’s life.

This overemphasis on autonomy represents a troubling shift in medical ethics. Autonomous choice, when stripped of adequate support and resources, ceases to be a form of empowerment and instead becomes a hollow justification for abandonment and the exercise of privilege and power over consideration of the common good. By focusing on “choice” while failing to address the suffering that underpins it, MAiD shifts the medical profession’s role from healing to facilitating death.

The expansion of euthanasia affects the nature of medical treatment.

The expansion of MAiD – from individuals who are near the end of their lives to those with disabilities, mental illness (beginning in 2027), and likely soon for those lacking capacity – raises profound questions about how we define medical treatment. Unlike other procedures, performing euthanasia or assisted suicide does not mandate any specialized training, nor are there legislative safeguards ensuring that all of the less invasive or less risky treatments have been thoroughly tried first. This begs the question of whether we are shifting the focus of care from alleviating suffering to merely ending the lives of those who are suffering prematurely.

Engaging in this debate has revealed an interesting dynamic among experts. Mental health professionals often highlight the complexity of their field and the current impossibility of accurately determining whose suffering is truly irremediable. Many argue rightly that MAiD is not an appropriate response to mental illness and advocate for evidence-based care. Disability experts emphasize that their patients often face systemic barriers and unmet needs and that recovery takes time, suggesting that compassion lies in improving support, not offering death. Palliative care specialists stress that end-of-life suffering can be alleviated, provided the resources to provide skillful, holistic care are available, which allows patients and their loved ones to find closure and meaning in their final days. While physical pain can often be effectively managed with medication, the psychological aspects of suffering should be addressed through therapy. Furthermore, choosing death out of fear – whether to avoid future pain, suffering, or material hardships – should be met with compassion and improved support.

The overemphasis of autonomy displaces the core principles of medicine.

This shift from the balancing of ethical principles of medicine to an overemphasis on autonomy reveals a deeper issue: autonomy and choice can displace core principles of healing, patient safety, and alleviation of suffering. Fear, isolation, and a lack of sustained support can make MAiD seem like an appealing option – not because it is the best solution, but because better alternatives are either overlooked due to the limited knowledge or are unavailable and inaccessible.

The report indicates that Track 2 euthanasia deaths (euthanasia for people who are not dying) predominantly affects women and people living with poverty.

According to the Health Canada report, those receiving MAiD under Track 2 were predominantly women (58.5 per cent) and slightly younger than those receiving it via Track 1. Further, the report indicates that proportionally more women than men were living in the lowest-income neighbourhoods (both Tracks 1 and 2). The Health Canada report aims to reassure Canadians by stating that the higher rate of younger women receiving MAiD can simply be linked to, “overall population health trends where women experience longterm chronic illness, which can cause enduring suffering but would not typically make a person’s death reasonably foreseeable.” However, the report fails to mention international research that women are disproportionately affected by intimate partner violence, more likely to receive inadequate medical care, and twice as likely to attempt suicide as men. These women may feel trapped in their suffering, leading them to see euthanasia or assisted suicide as an escape when other supports or interventions are unavailable, effectively replacing suicide prevention efforts with assisted suicide.

Lastly, an unexplained 6.7 per cent of those who died under Track 2 had no fixed address, raising the possibility of housing insecurity, a concern that has recently been underscored in leaked discussions from MAiD practitioner forums. These documented issues highlight that euthanasia and assisted suicide risks preying on systemic neglect and the intersections of gender, poverty, and isolation – conditions that distort the notion of true choice.

The Health Canada euthanasia report seems to promote the position of the euthanasia lobby.

The Health Canada report reads at times like a defence of the MAiD regime, placing greater emphasis on reassuring the public than on sober and fulsome analysis. The report even concludes with what seems like an endorsement for Dying with Dignity’s (DWD) position in a BC court case, which aims to mandate MAiD in all health facilities. The report notes that “institutional objection to MAiD resulting in patient transfers is a fraught issue. Since the legalization of MAiD in 2016, several faith-based hospitals, long-term care facilities, and hospices in Canada have enacted policies to prohibit MAiD from taking place on their premises,” further noting that a relatively high proportion of transfers were made following institutional policies. However, their analysis fails to acknowledge that transfers from facilities with institutional policies are necessary to enable individuals with disabilities to choose care in MAiD-free safe spaces. Further, hospital transfers occur frequently and for a variety of reasons, including patients requiring specialized services. Framing this as a “fraught issue” seemingly reflects ideological bias.

The Health Canada report seems to support removing "safeguards" for euthanasia.

Several disability organizations, supported by the larger disability community, have launched a court challenge to try to limit MAiD. The organizations assert that Track 2 has resulted in premature deaths and an increase in discrimination and stigma towards people with disabilities across the country. While they are not challenging Track 1 in this case, they recognize that it too can pose significant problems for people with disabilities.

Health Canada suggests that even modest delays can interfere with a person’s ability to access MAiD, emphasizing how important it is to avoid hindrances for those seeking it. However, they equally fail to highlight that 41 cases were stopped because external pressures were identified that were driving patients’ requests. In this regard, the report misses a critical point: providers who take the time to deeply understand and address a patient’s suffering may be offering true medical care, even if the patient dies naturally. Euthanasia and assisted suicide, as universal solutions, is a simplistic, cost-effective approach that overlooks the many complexities and challenges that their broad legalization has created.

Coelho completes her commentary by calling for a truly compassionate response.

Compassion does not abandon people to their despair. It does not normalize death as a solution to poorly controlled pain, fear, poverty, loneliness, or inadequate care. It invests in palliative care, mental health services, social support, and community life to make life worth living.

If Canada continues down this path, we are de facto normalizing the idea that some lives are less valuable and less deserving of care and that certain types of people are better off dead. The promise of autonomy can be a front, masking systemic neglect while utilizing the language of choice. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are not compassionate solutions if we have failed to meaningfully address the causes of suffering at its root. A compassionate society does not encourage its citizens to choose death simply because it has failed to help them live.

Previous articles by Ramona Coelho:

• Discrimination driven deaths. Analysing Ontario Coroner Reports on Euthanasia (Link). 
• Heart wrenching lessons from Canada's euthanasia regime (Link).
• Canadians with disabilities are needlessly dying by euthanasia (Link).

Community of Hope Outreach: Connecting with Seniors Project

Compassionate Community Care is starting a new calling service.

Regular check-ins by phone or Zoom with seniors who may not be able to receive an in-person visitor.

The calling service is for persons aged 55+ who may be socially or physically isolated and are looking for support, or a friendly person to talk to. We are looking for volunteers to make calls and seniors to receive them! Contact us if you are interested.

Calls are available in English and French. Volunteers who are proficient in French are needed.

For more information about the Compassionate Community Care calling service (Information Link).

This project is funded by the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP), which provides funding for projects that make a difference in the lives of seniors in their communities.

Canada's euthanasia horrors are accelerating.

This article was published by the National Review online on October 24, 2024.

Wesley and Alex last year.

By Wesley J Smith

The horrors unleashed by Canada’s legalizing euthanasia are growing increasingly clear. Case after case of vulnerable people being killed instead of cared for have now been reported. More than 15,000 Canadians are euthanized annually. Some are even asking to die because they can’t access proper care in Canada’s socialized system, or out of loneliness as much as illness. One Canadian death doctor admitted to killing more than 400 people.

A medical association has even urged doctors to suggest euthanasia to their qualified patients! Indeed, the push for euthanasia can apparently become quite aggressive at times, including just before cancer surgeries. From the National Post story:

The Nova Scotia woman was steeling herself for major surgery, a mastectomy for breast cancer, when an unfamiliar doctor ran through a series of pre-operative questions: What was her medical history? What medications does she regularly take? Any allergies? Was she aware of medical assistance in dying?

Fifteen months later, before a second mastectomy, “it happened again,” the woman said. Different doctor, same inquiry. “In the list of questions about your life and your past and how are you treating these things was, ‘Hey, (MAID) is a thing that exists,’” she said.

“It was upsetting. Not because I thought they were trying to kill me. I was shocked that it happens. I was like, ‘Again? This happened again ?’”

The woman, 51, requested anonymity because she lives in a small area with a limited number of doctors. She believes euthanasia was raised as “I was literally on my way into surgery” not because of breast cancer but because of her long history with autoimmune and other disorders that, theoretically, would make her eligible for MAID.

And yet, the beat goes on.

It isn’t as if the truth isn’t coming out. A recent official report by the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario contains many disturbing conclusions that should — but won’t — derail the euthanasia train. For example, a mentally disturbed, suicidal man was euthanized because doctors decided he had a bad reaction to Covid vaccines. From the Vancouver Sun story (my emphasis):

Identified as “Mr. A,” the man experienced “suffering and functional decline” following three vaccinations for SARS-CoV-2. He also suffered from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and personality disorders, and, “while navigating his physical symptoms,” was twice admitted to hospital, once involuntarily, with thoughts of suicide.

“Amongst his multiple specialists, no unifying diagnosis was confirmed,” according to the report. However, his MAID assessors “opined that the most reasonable diagnosis for Mr. A’s clinical presentation (severe functional decline) was a post-vaccine syndrome, in keeping with chronic fatigue syndrome.”

There were no “pathological findings” at a post-mortem that could identify any underlying physiological diagnosis, though people’s experiences can’t be discounted just because medicine can’t find what’s wrong with them.

In other words, there is a good chance that the poor man was mentally ill and not physically sick.

The report also highlights that some poor people were euthanized because of social isolation or for fear of becoming homeless. From the AP report:

AP’s investigation found doctors and nurses privately struggling with euthanasia requests from vulnerable people whose suffering might be addressed by money, social connections or adequate housing. Providers expressed deep discomfort with ending the lives of vulnerable people whose deaths were avoidable, even if they met the criteria in Canada’s euthanasia system, known nationally as MAiD, for medical assistance in dying.

Here is one of the examples:

Another case detailed Ms. B, a woman in her 50s suffering from multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome, with a history of mental illness including suicidality and post-traumatic stress disorder. She was socially isolated and asked to die largely because she could not get proper housing, according to the report.

Committee members couldn’t agree whether her death was justified; some said that because her inadequate housing was the main reason for her suffering, she should have been disqualified from euthanasia. Others argued that “social needs may be considered irremediable” if other options have been explored.

At this point, it is worth recalling that euthanasia legalization changes the general morality of society and its respect for life in very disturbing ways. For example, a poll taken last year in Canada found that 27 percent of Canadians strongly or moderately agree that euthanasia is acceptable for suffering caused by “poverty” and 28 percent strongly or moderately agree that killing by doctors is acceptable for suffering caused by homelessness. Good grief!

But good on the mainstream media for finally covering these abuses. Perhaps that is why the Welsh parliament just rejected the legalization of assisted suicide and Delaware’s Democratic governor recently vetoed a legalization bill.

Americans may shrug and note that our assisted-suicide states have not gone that far, to which I would add the word “yet.” Several states have already liberalized their suicide-facilitation criteria. And, I would argue, the pace of the expansion has been slower here only because Americans have not fully swallowed the hemlock.

If we ever get to the point that the masses support turning homicide into a medical “treatment,” as have our northern neighbors, we will go down the same dark death road. After all, Canadians are our closest cultural cousins.

Dutch doctors oppose euthanasia for "completed life."

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

On March 17, the NL Times reported that the Royal Dutch Medical Association maintained their opposition to euthanasia for "completed life." The NL Times report stated:

Doctors are still opposing a proposal to make euthanasia possible for elderly people who feel their life is fulfilled. The Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG) says there are still too many risks for people in a vulnerable position.

D66 submitted an amended "completed life" bill in November. The bill states that people 75 years of age and older can decide to end their life when they feel they no longer wish to continue living. With the assistance of a new professional, the end-of-life counselor, they would be able to do so.

There are usually complex problems behind suicidal ideation in elderly people, KNMG warns. They mention problems like loneliness, depression, social isolation, financial problems, or a weak socioeconomic position.

The doctors' federation says more attention should be given to these issues. "The facilitating of suicide for the elderly in a vulnerable position is not a responsible or desirable way."

The age limit is also an issue for the KNMG, as it sends a signal "that life for the elderly is worth less than the life of younger people." KNMG expressed similar criticism about an earlier proposal.

The D66 party has been pushing for euthanasia for "completed life" for many years. In the last years general election the D66 fell from 24 - 9 seats. With the loss of political influence for the D66, it is unlikely that euthanasia will be extended to "completed life" any time soon.

41% of older Canadians experience loneliness.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The National Institute on Aging (NIR) released a report on December 5, 2023 titled: Understanding the Factors Driving the Epidemic of Social Isolation and Loneliness among Older Canadians.

In the media release the NIR stated:

Social isolation and loneliness are becoming increasingly recognized as significant public health concerns, particularly for older individuals, across Canada and around the world. With older persons making up a rapidly growing proportion of Canada’s population, the number of isolated or lonely older Canadians is expected to significantly increase, meaning that both the individual and societal consequences of loneliness and social isolation will likely also become more severe.

The report, Understanding the Factors Driving the Epidemic of Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Older Canadians, finds that as many as 41 per cent of Canadians aged 50 years and older are at risk of social isolation and up to 58 per cent have experienced loneliness before. To date, a lack of consistent definitions and measurement scales of loneliness and social isolation have made it challenging to fully characterize the scope of the problem in Canada, which could better enable measures to address it. Using data from the NIA’s inaugural 2022 Ageing in Canada Survey results, the report aims to fill this evidence gap by examining the extent to which both social isolation and loneliness are impacting Canadians aged 50 years and older across 10 provinces, and will continue to do so over the coming decade.

The report found that:

• 41% of Canadians aged 50 years and older are deemed as socially isolated. On the other hand, only 59% of Canadians aged 50 years and older appear to be somewhat well-connected or have strong social ties.
• 18% of Canadians aged 50 years and older are very lonely and another 40% are somewhat lonely. On the other hand, 42% of Canadians aged 50 years and older are not lonely.
• Less than a third (30%) of Canadians aged 80 years and older could be classified as socially isolated... compared to 45% of Canadians aged 50–64 years and 40% of Canadians aged 65–79 years.
  
• Among Canadians aged 80 years and older, 9% are very lonely and 38% are somewhat lonely, while 53% are not lonely.
• On the other hand, among Canadians aged 50-64 years, almost one in four (23%) are very lonely and another 41% are somewhat lonely while only 36% are not lonely.
• In terms of Canadians aged 65–79 years, 14% are very lonely and 39% are somewhat lonely, while 47% are not lonely.
• Overall, 63% of Canadian women aged 50 years and older report that they are either somewhat lonely or very lonely, while the share is 53% among Canadian men of the same age.
• Most concerningly, one in five (20%) Canadian women aged 50 years and older report that they are very lonely. Correspondingly, the share of Canadian men of the same age who are very lonely is 16%.
  

Clearly loneliness has become an epidemic in Canada. Loneliness and isolation are key issues for people who are considering death by euthanasia. When I have discussed the reasons why someone who is considering euthanasia or has already been approved for euthanasia, the discussion most often is about feelings of loneliness, isolation or hopelessness.

Sadly, the epidemic of loneliness is feeding the euthanasia mentality.

We need a society that recognizes the need for interdependence and places caring for others over killing.

More articles concerning loneliness:

• Loneliness is an epidemic with profound risks to health and life (Link). 
• Loneliness as a root cause for symptom distress among older adults (Link). 
• A wish to die is most often linked to loneliness and depression (Link). 
• Study uncovers euthanasia deaths based on loneliness in the Netherlands (Link).
  

Bioethicists: Euthanasia Okay for ‘Unjust Social Conditions’ in Canada.

This article was published by the National Review on May 13, 2023.

Wesley Smith

By Wesley J. Smith

Once killing the sufferer becomes a societally acceptable means for ending suffering, there becomes no end to the “suffering” that justifies human termination. We can see this phenomenon most vividly in Canada, because it is happening there more quickly than in most cultures. For example, a recent poll found that 27 percent of Canadians polled strongly or moderately agree that euthanasia is acceptable for suffering caused by “poverty” and 28 percent strongly or moderately agree that killing by doctors is acceptable for suffering caused by homelessness.

Euthanasia mutates a society’s soul. I can’t imagine that being true ten years ago before euthanasia became legal.

This kind of abandoned thinking finds enthusiastic, albeit not unanimous, expression among secular bioethicists. In fact, two Canadian bioethicists just published a paper in the Journal of Medical Ethics — a prestigious British Medical Journal publication — arguing that “unjust social conditions” justify lethal jabs (euphemistically called MAiD, for “medical assistance in dying”). The argument claims that killing is a form of “harm reduction.”

The authors even admit such cases have already occurred legally in Canada. From “Choosing Death in Unjust Conditions: Hope, Autonomy, and Harm Reduction” (my emphasis):

In 2022, an individual in Canada, who had been diagnosed with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), received MAiD. However, by their own description, their decision to choose MAiD was driven primarily by the fact that they were unable to access affordable housing compatible with MCS. While it was true that they suffered from an illness, disease or disability that caused ‘enduring physical or psychological suffering that is intolerable to them and cannot be relieved under conditions that they consider acceptable’ as specified under the eligibility criteria of Bill C-14 [that recently expanded eligibility beyond death being “reasonably foreseeable], the primary source of their suffering was an inability to find appropriate housing, not the condition itself. Another person, also with MCS, writes: ‘I’ve applied for MAiD essentially because of abject poverty’.

Good grief. The patient in question is dead — not because of their medical but housing conditions. And doctors used the physical issues as pretext for justifying the killing as within the law!

The authors approve of allowing euthanasia for reasons of social injustice as a means of “harm reduction.” And in the context of medical issues, the authors claim that this includes killing patients who would not want to die if they could access proper treatment:

In the case of the availability of MAiD in Canada to people who not only might but have explicitly said they would choose differently if they had access to the options they preferred, we argue that the least harmful way forward is to allow MAiD to be available.

This, even though Canada’s socialized health-care system is in crisis:

Access to healthcare across nearly all dimensions continues to deteriorate in the wake of the pandemic even outside of long-term and palliative care, from basic care, to surgical backlogs, to a general consensus that the system is in a state of collapse. In this context, refusing options to people who autonomously pursue MAiD amounts to perpetuating their suffering, hoping that this will ultimately lead to a better, more ‘just’ world. This is a world that currently does not exist and is unlikely to emerge in the near future. Even if it did, it is unfortunately even more unlikely that the people whose current suffering has led them to request MAiD will realise its benefits.

So, socialized medicine fails, and a splendid answer to the problem for patients in need is euthanasia. Do you see now why I call euthanasia/assisted suicide “abandonment?”

The authors conclude:

We disagree with any claim that the unjust lack of choices available to people is alone sufficient to undermine their autonomy. Those who launch legal proceedings or request and receive MAiD are unlikely examples of people whose reduced opportunities have led them to lose all hope and motivation for pursuing personally meaningful courses of action. Moreover, neither a reduction of opportunities in itself, nor the existence of oppressive ableist norms, is sufficient to directly undermine autonomy…Restricting an autonomous choice to pursue MAiD due to the injustice of current non-ideal circumstances causes more harm than allowing the choice to pursue MAiD, even though that choice is deeply tragic.

Bioethics is growing increasingly monstrous. And that matters because these are the so-called “experts” who exert tremendous influence on our laws and regulations, in court rulings, over the attitudes of journalists, among the purveyors of popular culture, and, ultimately, upon public attitudes.

Moreover, Canada is our closest cultural cousin. If such a crass death-embracing attitude developed there so quickly with the legalization of euthanasia, it will happen here too — and, indeed, almost all state laws allowing doctor-prescribed death already expanded their guidelines. Which is why, if we want to follow the truly compassionate course, it is a matter of great urgency that we reject all further legalization of assisted suicide in the United States.

Loneliness is an epidemic with profound risks to health and life.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

I have written, in the past, about the epidemic of loneliness and isolation and explained how loneliness and isolation leads to more deaths by assisted suicide.

The US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, released an 82 page report yesterday on loneliness and stated that half of Americans have experienced loneliness. He said that Americans are so lonely that those consequences constitute a near national health emergency.

In an interview with Amanda Seitz from the Associated Press, Murthy stated:

“We now know that loneliness is a common feeling that many people experience. It’s like hunger or thirst. It’s a feeling the body sends us when something we need for survival is missing,” Murthy told The Associated Press in an interview. “Millions of people in America are struggling in the shadows, and that’s not right. That’s why I issued this advisory to pull back the curtain on a struggle that too many people are experiencing.” 

Seitz reported that:

The loneliness epidemic is hitting young people, ages 15 to 24, especially hard. The age group reported a 70% drop in time spent with friends during the same period.

Loneliness increases the risk of premature death by nearly 30%, with the report revealing that those with poor social relationships also had a greater risk of stroke and heart disease. Isolation also elevates a person’s likelihood for experiencing depression, anxiety and dementia, according to the research. Murthy did not provide any data that illustrates how many people die directly from loneliness or isolation. 

Murthy told the Associated Press that the loneliness crisis worsened during the Covid-19 crisis with people spending on average only 20 minutes per day communicating with friends and relatives. Seitz reported that:

Technology has rapidly exacerbated the loneliness problem, with one study cited in the report finding that people who used social media for two hours or more daily were more than twice as likely to report feeling socially isolated than those who were on such apps for less than 30 minutes a day.

Murthy said social media is driving the increase in loneliness in particular. His report suggests that technology companies roll out protections for children especially around their social media behavior.

“There’s really no substitute for in-person interaction,” Murthy said. “As we shifted to use technology more and more for our communication, we lost out on a lot of that in-person interaction. How do we design technology that strengthens our relationships as opposed to weaken them?”

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is also concerned with the link between loneliness, depression and assisted suicide.

An Irish longitudinal study examined the wish to die (WTD) among 8174 patients who were over the age of 50. The study that was published in February 2021 followed participants for 6 years and found that people who had a (WTD), almost three-quarters reported being lonely and 60% had clinically significant depressive symptoms.

Sadly many people who die by assisted suicide are experiencing a wish to die which is closely associated with loneliness and depression. Most of those who experience depressive symptoms are not being treated for their condition.

Loneliness as a root cause of symptom distress among older adults

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

A study by Victoria Powell et al titled: Loneliness longitudinally predicts the symptom cluster of pain, fatigue, and depression in older adults was first published on April 12, 2022 for the annual scientific meeting of the Gerontological Society of America. The study concludes that:

Loneliness strongly predicts the development of pain, fatigue, and depression as well as the symptom cluster over time in a large, nonclinical sample of older American adults.

This study with 5974 participants over the age of 50 is important in relation to older adults who are being treated for pain, fatigue, and depression with drug therapy when addressing their loneliness may significantly relieve the person's symptoms.

I am concerned about cultural loneliness since lonely and depressed people are more likely to die by suicide, assisted suicide or euthanasia.

This study examines the prevalence the cluster of symptoms (pain, fatigue, and depression) when these symptoms may not be directly related to the medical condition. The researchers write:

That the cluster is found in multiple unrelated conditions suggests that its etiology may be distinct from a specific condition but perhaps shared with several. One factor that appears to be associated with the emergence of this symptom cluster is the subjective experience of social isolation even when other people are present, which defines the phenomenon of loneliness. Loneliness is only modestly correlated with objective social isolation, and feeling lonely may predict poor outcomes better than objective social isolation.

The health effects of loneliness have been known for a long time. This study point out that:

However, when loneliness persists, the same responses that are adaptive in the short-term can cause adverse long-term health consequences. Indeed, loneliness has been associated with many poor outcomes, including a 26% increased risk of premature mortality. Moreover, the negative impact of loneliness may be increasing due to social distancing measures necessary for controlling the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The researchers state:

We found that loneliness independently predicts the development of the symptom cluster of pain, fatigue, and depression in a large sample of older American adults. Those who reported loneliness at least “some of the time” had more than two-fold odds of developing the symptom cluster compared with those who “hardly ever or never” felt lonely.

This study also finds that loneliness not only exasperates pain, fatigue and depression, but it is often the root cause of pain, fatigue and depression. The study states:

Some have posited that pain, fatigue, and depression in combination could cause activity and mobility restrictions, resulting in social isolation and, in turn, feelings of loneliness. However, our findings suggest that loneliness precedes the symptom cluster. Indeed, others have observed the same directionality supporting that loneliness may play a causal role in the development of these symptoms together.

Several studies have proven that there are significant negative health consequences related to loneliness while this study proves that often pain, fatigue and depression are not just related to loneliness but caused by loneliness.

As for the issue of euthanasia, I have listed a series of articles that prove that loneliness is often the primary reason for requests and deaths by euthanasia.

• A wish to die is most often linked to loneliness and depression (Link).
• Study uncovers euthanasia deaths based on loneliness in the Netherlands (Link).
• Hundreds of sick Canadians euthanized for loneliness (Link).
• Loneliness is an epidemic among seniors that requires a caring response (Link).

A wish to die is most often linked to loneliness and depression.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

An Irish longitudinal study examined the wish to die (WTD) among 8174 patients who were over the age of 50. The study that was published in February 2021 followed the participants for 6 years and it determined that people who had a (WTD), almost three-quarters reported being lonely and 60% had clinically significant depressive symptoms. Other factors that led to a WTD was functional disability and chronic pain.

When the WTD was reassesed two year later, 72% of the people indicated that loneliness and depression had receeded, which re-affirmed previous studies that prove that a WTD fluctuates.

The study was conducted to inform legislators who were considering a bill to legalize euthanasia in Ireland. The study states:

In order to inform discussion around this complex issue (euthanasia and assisted suicide), this report examines the prevalence of WTD in a large population-representative sample of people aged ≥50 years. We specifically examine factors associated with WTD; the longitudinal course of WTD and the relationship between WTD and death.

The study found that 3.5% (279 out of 8174 participants) had indicated that they had a WTD within 30 days of the interview. Participants with a WTD were more likely to be female, separated or divorced, and were 7 times more likely to have depressive symptoms and four times more likely to have been previously diagnosed with depression than people without a WTD.

The wish to die fluctuates.

Since this is a longitudinal study, some participants were interviewed several times. 72% of the participants did not indicate a WTD two years after their first interview while 175 who did not indicate a WTD in the first interview did have a WTD two years later. A person who indicated a WTD at the first interview but then did not have a WTD two years later were much less likely to be lonely or to be experiencing depressive symptoms.

Clearly a WTD fluctuates and it is closely connected to loneliness and depressive symptoms.

The study also found that studies from other jurisdictions have similar results. A study from the Netherlands (2011) indicated that 3.4% of people aged 58 - 98, had a WTD which is nearly identical to the 3.5% in this study.

The study further examines the issues of loneliness and depression and stated:

WTD appears to be closely linked to loneliness and depressive symptoms. Almost three-quarters of participants with WTD also reported loneliness, while almost one fifth reported that they were lonely all the time. 60% of participants with WTD also had clinically significant depressive symptoms.

Importantly, only half of those with WTD and co-existing depressive symptoms report an established diagnosis of depression. Prior work has highlighted the potential burden of undiagnosed and therefore untreated population with depression within the TILDA cohort. It is not surprising therefore that less than one-sixth of those with WTD and co-existing depressive symptoms have accessed psychological or counselling services given this apparently high rate of undetected depression.

This last paragraph proves that most of the people who had a WTD and depressive symptoms that the depressive symptoms were nearly always undiagnosed and the person was not receiving treatment for their depressive symptoms.

Very few people who request euthanasia or assisted suicide are sent for a psychiatric evaluation. The Oregon 2020 report indicates that of the 370 people who received a prescription for a lethal assisted suicide drug cocktail, only three of them received a psychological or psychiatric evaluation. The Oregon 2019 report indicates that of the 290 people who received a prescription for a lethal assisted suicide drug cocktail, only one received a psychological or psychiatric evaluation.

This study proves that people with a wish to die are most often living with loneliness or experiencing depressive symptoms. The study also proves that most of the people who are experiencing depressive symptoms, that the depression is not diagnosed and the person is not receiving treatment for depression.

Finally the study re-affirms the conclusion of previous studies which proves that a wish to die fluctuates. I would encourage people who are interested in this topic to read the articles and studies by Dr Harvey Chochinov concerning Dignity Therapy and how the Wish to Die fluctuates.

Sadly many people who die by euthanasia or assisted suicide are experiencing a wish to die which is closely associated with loneliness and depression. Most of those who are experiencing depressive symptoms are not being treated for their condition and they are not sent for a psychological or psychiatric evaluation.

Compassionate Community Care February 5 Volunteer Being With Training Session

Being With Volunteer Training Session

 

Gain knowledge and confidence to journey with those who are suffering, socially isolated, sick, or dying. 

Kathy Matusiak Costa

Help to renew hope and purpose in life.

FREE Online Training – Live on Zoom!
Saturday February 5th from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. EST

You must register in advance by clicking on this link: (Registration Link).

Link to the poster for the February 5 training session (Poster link). 

Meeting capacity is limited to 100 participants.

Alex Schadenberg

With Kathy Matusiak Costa, Executive Director of Compassionate Community Care, and Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

You must register in advance by clicking on this link: (Registration Link).

The training session will give you information and knowledge for visiting people in your community.

Compassionate Community Care is a registered charity

Office tel. 519-439-6445 • info@beingwith.org • www.beingwith.org  

CCC Helpline: 1-855-675-874

Assisted Dying Expansion Aided by Legislation, Public Attitudes

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Lee Harding, writing for the Epoch Times, interviewed me about the expansion of (MAiD) euthanasia in Canada for an article that was published on July 13.

• Article: Canada's 2020 euthanasia report (Link).

Harding reports on the 2020 Health Canada euthanasia report which indicated that there was a 35% increase in assisted deaths in Canada in 2020. Harding writes.

In 2020, 7,595 Canadians received medical assistance in dying (MAiD). This was an over 34 percent increase from 2019’s 5,660 figure, but 2.7 times the 2017 number of 2,838, the first full year assisted suicide was legal in Canada. The statistics were published in Health Canada’s second annual report on MAiD released at the end of June.

In addition to the increase in assisted deaths, MAiD opponents were disturbed by circumstances in which the procedure was delivered last year, including some that may not have been legal. Taking data from the Health Canada report, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition found that:

• 4,120 Canadians chose MAiD because they had cancer, yet it was without discussion with an oncologist about their choice;
• 2,532 people died by MAiD less than 10 days after requesting it, including 905 whose deaths were not imminent but had the then-legally required 10-day reflection period waived because two practitioners determined that they could lose their decision-making capacity within that 10-day period;
• 1,253 had non-terminal conditions; and
• 59 people were assessed by the practitioner as having requested a lethal injection without directly consulting with the person.

Alex Schadenberg

Harding asked me about the effect that the euthanasia expansion Bill C-7 will have on MAiD in Canada. Harding reported:

These numbers are expected to rise yet again in 2021 due to Bill C-7, which became law on March 17, says Alex Schadenberg, founder of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

“The effect of Bill C-7 will be a lot more death, but also the fact that the culture is being inundated with the concept that this is a good thing,” he said in an interview.

Harding then reported what I stated about the problem with cultural loneliness.

Schadenberg is disturbed that 1,412 Canadians requested MAiD in 2020 because they felt isolated and lonely.

“The euthanasia mentality really takes off in a culture of loneliness and isolation, and that’s what we have in our culture, more so than ever before—and it’s only getting worse,”

Angelina Ireland

Harding follows his interview with me by speaking to Angelina Ireland, the President of the Delta Hospice Society who stated:

the medical system has an increasing bias in favour of MAiD instead of supporting people until their natural death.

“We need to call for perhaps a provincial or national inquiry as to what is going on out there with elderly people, with sick people … vulnerable people. People are coming up to them, nurses, doctors, recommending they just MAiD themselves.”

Sadly, the Canadian government's current review of the euthanasia law is oriented to further expansions of euthanasia rather than investigating how the law is actually working in Canada.