Legalized in Canada in June 2016, medical assistance in dying (MAID) allows eligible persons to end their lives through the administration of medication by a physician or nurse practitioner or through self-administration of medication prescribed by a physician or nurse practitioner. A 2021 amendment allows advance consent for MAID for persons whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable but who lose capacity for consent prior to MAID being provided as might be the case with someone with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia.

We are a group of researchers from the University of Victoria interested in understanding why persons living with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia request MAID from the perspective of family caregivers. In particular, the study examines whether concerns over caregiving stress and unmet needs for support, along with worries over inequities in long-term care play a role in the MAID decision-making process. We are also interested in learning what aspects in the provision of long-term care family caregivers would want to see improved to address their concerns.