To die with dignity has become a reality for those who so choose this option in Australia. But it hasn’t always been that way in other countries. Here is a report on how one doctor in Canada is approaching the subject. The more angles from which we can learn the better off we are in keeping death and dying on the agenda for us as we age. Facing up to the facts and realities is healthy and keeps us grounded in the sense that the end comes to all of us – ready or not. We say better to be ‘ready-than-not.’

‘We’re going to talk about death today – your death’: a doctor on what it’s like to end a life rather than extend one, by Dr Stenfanie Green, The Guardian, 15 March, 2025

I used to focus on maternity and newborn care, but when Canada legalised assisted dying in 2016, I began helping people with a different transition.

Medical assistance in dying (MAiD), legalisation in Canada was passed in June 2016.

At the time I had been practising medicine for more than 20 years, trained as a family physician, and focused on maternity and newborn care, preparing women and their families for the profound transition a new baby would bring to their lives. But when it became clear the law was about to change to allow MAiD, I changed course with it, learning everything I could about this newly emerging field so that I could support people with their final wishes and their transition at the other end of life.

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