According to Cristina Monforte and Josep Porta, authors of the article and directors of the WeCare Chair, “we were very concerned with whether our approach to fragile patients, done to gauge their desire to hasten death, could be a source of greater suffering, or about the difficulties this could pose”.

The study was conducted with patients in difficult circumstances, which made this experience “particularly sensitive”. However, thanks to this research, as Albert Balaguer, team coordinator, explained, they have arrived at the conclusion that, “if handled properly, discussing these issues does not lead to greater suffering or discomfort; in fact, there is evidence to the contrary”.

The results and context of the study were published in an article in the first-quartile journal Psycho-Oncology. The authors are Mercedes Bellido-Pérez, Iris Crespo, Josep Porta-Salas, Albert Balaguer and Cristina Monforte, all members of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences’ teaching staff. Others collaborators included Keith Wilson, member of the Psychology Department at the Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre in Ontario (Canada).