Saying goodbye with dignity. How and where do we want to die?

At a time when the topics of dying, death and palliative care are increasingly becoming the focus of public debate, the Palliative Care Support Association of Krems University Hospital, in cooperation with the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, organised this event and created a welcome opportunity to exchange important perspectives and experiences.

The event brought together a large number of stakeholders and interested parties - including experts from the fields of medicine, ethics and care, students, representatives of political institutions and interested members of the general public. During the event, representatives from the fields of bioethics, ethics for healthcare professions and palliative care entered into a constructive dialogue about the ethical, medical and nursing dimensions of dying.

To kick off the event, the Rector of Karl Landsteiner University, Prof. Dr. Rudolf Mallinger, welcomed the guests and pointed out that the coronavirus pandemic in particular has made it painfully clear that saying goodbye with dignity can be very challenging. The need for triage - the prioritisation of patients in critical situations - presented many relatives and professionals with enormous ethical and emotional challenges during the pandemic. Rector Mallinger emphasised that the discussion about dignified dying is not a simple one, but one that will continue to be of central importance for our society in the future.

With an impressive panel of experts contributing their different perspectives and insights, the evening was a fruitful exchange that provided plenty of inspiration and material for discussion:

Senior physician, Dr. Gudrun Kreye, MBA, organisational head of palliative medicine at Krems University Hospital, spoke about the possibilities that medicine can offer patients in the context of dying. The ethical aspects of hospices were addressed by Prof. Dr. Giovanni Rubeis, Head of the Department of Biomedical Ethics and Healthcare Ethics at KL Private University. Gabriele Pachschwöll, MSc, Head of Nursing of the Palliative Care Team at Krems University Hospital, focused in particular on the area of nursing and emphasised the importance of this in palliative care. Silvia Hogl, Hospice Team Coordinator of the Palliative Care Association, highlighted the important role of volunteers and hospice teams in the process of saying goodbye.

The evening was moderated by Dr. Martin Peter, lecturer on the Applied Ethics certificate course at KL, who led the discussion and created space for different perspectives.

Overall, the event was very well received with more than 150 guests and offered not only informative presentations, but also a lively exchange between those present. It was a valuable opportunity to reflect and discuss how we can approach the topic of saying goodbye with dignity. In cooperation with the Karl Landsteiner Private University, the Palliative Care Association of Krems University Hospital thus set an important example for dialogue on a topic that affects and moves many of us.