The Changing Policy Environment and Its Implications for the Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision Scheme

Abstract

The life-sustaining treatment decision scheme (LSTDS) is designed to help individuals make choices on their own regarding the final moments of their lives, ward off ineffectual life-sustaining procedures, and preserve dignity at the end-of-life stage. As people live longer and medical technology advances, the LSTDS has drawn growing public attention. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy have extended to such an extent that death is now, quite paradoxically, both more distant to individuals and closer at hand as a social concern. With mortality increasingly attributed to chronic diseases, the need for death preparation looms large. Over the years, ‘death with dignity’ as an active life decision has sparked keen debates, and, along the way, people’s interest in the scheme has shifted away from its formalities to its qualitative aspect. However, despite the progress it made in step with the enhancement of the health and social welfare systems, the scheme still has a long way to go to reach its full potential. The LSTDS should reshape how people view death; its undertakings down the road should involve transitioning end-of-life preparation from a death-oriented approach to a life-oriented one, ensuring the self-determination of individuals, and assisting those nearing the end of life to conclude their life’s journey with dignity.