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Topic

Understanding Dementia and Medical Assistance in Dying Discourse in Canada: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Department of Sociology

Date & location

• Friday, December 5, 2025

• 9:30 A.M.

• Cornett Building

• Room A317

Reviewers

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Andre Smith, Department of Sociology, ӣ��Ӱ�� (Supervisor)

• Dr. Steve Garlick, Department of Sociology, UVic (Member)

External Examiner

• Dr. Kelli I. Stajduhar, School of Nursing, ӣ��Ӱ�� 

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Stuart MacDonald, Department of Psychology, UVic

   

Abstract

Medical assistance in dying (MAID) allows adult Canadians diagnosed with an incurable medical condition to request assistance from a medical or nurse practitioner to end their life. People with dementia (PwD) who meet eligibility criteria can receive MAID if they can give informed consent and make the request voluntarily. Using Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis on nine Canadian texts, this study reveals issues of access, assessment, and timing for MAID for PwD and underlines how legal, medical, and human rights discourses construct the intervention. Further, the analysis highlights the various ways PwD could receive MAID: early on in their dementia, through a final consent waiver, and through an advance request (AR), which is not legal under the Criminal Code. Several texts presented the AR as the preferred option for PwD as it would bypass the need to receive MAID early on to avoid ineligibility as dementia progresses. With an AR, PwD could specify which circumstances they would like to receive MAID, including when they no longer have the capacity to consent. Unfortunately, current MAID legislation provides PwD who request MAID with limited options as progressive cognitive decline impedes their ability to meet eligibility criteria. PwD, therefore need to request MAID in the early stages of their dementia, depriving them of years of quality life. On that basis, MAID can be considered an inequitable healthcare intervention for PwD.