End-of-life decision making : a cross-national study

This examination of end-of-life decision making offers a broader perspective than that found in the extensive existing literature on this topic by offering a cross-national comparison.

Experts from twelve countries analyze death-related issues and policies in their respective nations, discussing such topics as health care costs, advance directives or wills, pain management, and cultural, social, and religious factors, and other topics.

The countries selected for study - Brazil, China, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Kenya, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States - represent a mix of East and West, developed and developing nations, seldom considered together in analyses of these issues.

This is the first systematic attempt to analyze end-of-life issues in many of these countries; the chapters on China, Kenya (of special significance because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa), and Turkey break new ground.