Source: dmd (Derecho a morir dignamente)
How is the end of life managed within the context of a pandemic like the coronavirus one? In Spain, it greatly depends on the pressure existing in each territory and each health center. In order to homogenize and guarantee the right to an accompaniment at the end of life, some organizations have implemented several initiatives.
At DMD we have decided to compile them with two purposes: First, to make the public aware of the procedures that must be applied in their territory; second, to operate as a documentation center for institutions that have not yet launched initiatives of this type.
ASSISTANCE PROTOCOLS FOR ACCOMPANIMENT AND DIGNIFIED DEATH
- Vitoria (Euskadi) City Council – Action protocol for terminal or sudden death situations of residents during a Covid-19-caused health emergency.
- Navarra’s hospital complex – Covid-19 patients admitted in a special situation.
- Madrid Community – Care protocol for patients and families at the end of life during the Covid-19 pandemic in Social Health Centers.
- Madrid Community – Transition to Normality Plan for nursing homes, day care centers and at home help services.
- Generalitat de Catalunya – End-of-life support for family members of persons living in nursing home. Infection control measures for the relatives visiting them.
- Generalitat Valenciana – Accompaniment protocol for patients at the end of life during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Hospital de Fuenlabrada (Madrid) – Humanization plan in times of coronavirus.
- Junta de Castilla y León – Comprehensive protocol of specific actions considering severity, last days and death during the Covid-19 crisis.
- Junta de Extremadura – Relatives accompaniment protocol at the end of life for Covid-19 patients in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura.
- Principality of Asturias. Ministry of Social Rights and Welfare: Confinement and accompaniment in the end-of-life process. Residential Centers for the Elderly and Social Care Centers.
- Principality of Asturias. Health Service. Accompaniment of the patient at the end of life during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Region of Murcia – Protocol for the visit of patient companions in view of the last days situation of people affected by Covid-19 in nursing home communities.
PROFESSIONAL GROUPS AND ASSOCIATIONS DECLARATIONS AND PROPOSALS FOR THE ACCOMPANIMENT AND A DIGNIFIED DEATH
- University of Navarra Clinic: Quick guides for support and symptomatic control in Covid-19 situations.
- Bioethics Committee of Catalonia: Considerations in the face of the COVID19 Pandemic.
- Bioethics Committee of Spain: Declaration of the Spanish bioethics committee on the right and duty to facilitate the accompaniment and spiritual assistance to patients with Covid-19 at the end of their lives and in special severity situations.
- Healthcare Ethics Committee of the Lanzarote health area: Approach to information and communication with the sick person and their relatives in serious situations, last days or death during the Covid-19 crisis.
- The Chair of Palliative Care, the Chair of Bioethics and the Center for Health and Social Studies of the University of Vic, as well as the Research Group in Chronicity of Asturias, with the support of 23 health, socio-health and educational organizations: Ethics and clinical recommendations for decision making in the nursing homes environment within the context of the Covid-19 Crisis
- Nursing Council of the Valencian Community: Proposal for improvements in the protocol of the Ministry of Health on the accompaniment at the end of life during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Age and Life Foundation demands to facilitate farewells to the loved ones at hospitals and nursing home to “humanize” care at the end of life.
- LARES requests the government measures to revoke the isolation of the elderly in nursing homes.
- Spanish Society of Palliative Care (SECPAL) and the Spanish Association of Palliative Care Nursing (AECPAL) – Recommendations on caring for and accompanying people in a last days situation as well as their relatives and / or caregivers.
- Spanish Society of Palliative Care (SECPAL) – Protocol for the care of patients in a serious illness situation who are not candidates for hospital transfer or in their last days due to the Covid-19 crisis in nursing homes and primary care settings.
- Spanish Society of Preventive Medicine, Public Health and Hygiene (SEMPSPH) – Its proposal of measures and issues to be considered for the transition phase of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Spain, also includes the recommendation of visits in an end of life situation (Page 16).
