Workshop Description
This workshop explores the complex landscape of moral and ethical decision-making at the end of life, one of the most sensitive and universally relevant issues facing individuals, families, and healthcare professionals today. There are more and more states and countries which legally allow Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID), and there are professionals who both agree and strongly disagree with those options. While many assume that morals and choices stemming from those morals are fixed and universal, and that ethics are externally defined codes of conduct, this course invites participants to critically examine how both morals and ethics are shaped, internalized, and challenged over time.

Participants will explore key questions such as:

• What are the origins of our moral beliefs?

• How do personal values align, or conflict, with institutional ethics?

• What happens when ethical codes fail to offer guidance in real-world dilemmas?

Through reflective discussion, case examples, participants will analyze how concepts of self-determination and autonomy, culture, worldview, professional identity, and lived experience influence one’s moral compass, as well as the ethics within which we may work or practice, especially in high-stakes situations involving end-of-life care, patient autonomy, and family decision-making.

Grounded in both legal, secular and religious as well as clinical perspectives, this workshop supports healthcare professionals in building greater self-awareness, cultural sensitivity, and ethical clarity when navigating the emotionally charged territory of life’s final choices and decisions.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. List three core concepts commonly associated with the development of moral and ethical frameworks, and how they impact end-of-life care and decisions.

2. Discuss pros and cons in general terms of MAID vs Euthanasia, VS Hospice Care

3. Explain how morals and ethical principles develop and evolve over time in response to personal, cultural, and societal influences.

4. Discuss the impact of culture, worldview, personal experience, and professional role on moral decision-making and ethical interpretation in clinical and family contexts.

5. Discuss the general framework of MAID laws, requirements and hurdles for patients and families

6. Identify ethical challenges of working with Traumatic Brain Injury patients and their families.

FORMAT: Workshop with PowerPoint presentation
EVALUATION: Standard Evaluation Form