The relation between cultural values, euthanasia, and spiritual care in the Netherlands

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to gain some understanding of euthanasia as a Dutch cultural practice, focusing on value orientations that lie beneath the surface of what is made visible in the many national surveys done in the Netherlands. In order to reach this aim, I take 2 steps. In the first place, I give a short sketch of euthanasia as it is understood and practiced in the Netherlands. This is followed by a cultural analysis by the American‑Dutch historian James Kennedy who studied the euthanasia debate in the Netherlands from the 1960s until 1985. Having arrived at some cultural understanding of Dutch mentality, I dive deeper into the understanding of the Dutch value orientations by focusing on the dimension of spiritual care at the end of life. After having defined the concept of spirituality, I sketch the contemporary state of affairs in this area and report how spiritual care in the Netherlands is understood and practiced by discussing the consensus‑based Dutch guideline on spiritual care in palliative care, recent research on hope among palliative care patients in the Netherlands, and an often used Dutch tool for spiritual care: the Ars moriendi model. I end this contribution by sketching how I think that spiritual care at the end of life should be developed further in the Netherlands from a palliative care perspective.