The first two forums have already addressed key topics such as the nature of hospice care, its role in society and the limits of futile treatment. Answers were sought to the difficult but important question: what is a good death?
This year's Forum will highlight a simple but ethically and legally complex issue: whether or not to tell - and how to tell patients the truth about their life expectancy.
"'To say or not to say' is not just a medical or legal question - it is a deeply human dilemma that reveals our society's willingness to talk about death openly and respectfully. Often patients and their families are faced with a situation where the truth is withheld in the belief that it will protect them from pain, but often it is this very silence that creates even more insecurity and despair. We need to learn to talk about what is inevitable, so that every person can understand it, accept it and preserve their right to decide how to spend the end of their life. "The meaning of 'To say or not to say' is that the patient is given the opportunity to meet their diagnosis face to face - not as a victim, but as someone who can still choose how to go," explains Ilze Zosule, co-founder of Hospiss LV.
The discussion forum will bring together experienced speakers - doctors, chaplains, psychologists, lawyers, ethicists and scientists - who will share their academic and practical perspectives on the dilemma from their own professional perspectives.
Līga Malāne, chaplain and social worker at SIA "Hospiss Māja", will reveal four real-life situations from the practice of hospice care, illustrating how the "to say or not to say" dilemma manifests itself in everyday life, and explain why this question arises in the first place. Dr Juris Nikolajenko, Medical Director of Riga East Clinical University Hospital, will talk about typical scenarios in hospitals, the training of doctors to carry out such conversations and discuss whether there is a place for such communication in the hectic environment of hospitals. Psychotherapist and lecturer at the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at RSU dr. Laura Valaine, PhD in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, will focus on the psychological aspect in the topic "Internal barriers to being in touch with reality".
Mārcis Auziņš, Chairman of the Council and Professor at the University of Latvia, will offer a philosophical perspective on the topic "How to find peace in an unjust world?", looking at transcendental questions - why death seems painful and how to come to terms with the injustice of life. Dr.sc.soc. Signe Mežinska, Associate Professor and bioethicist at the University of Latvia, will provide an academic and ethical analysis based on world experience and will examine how different cultures and systems deal with the question of "to say or not to say". Ineta Ziemele, Professor, Judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Judge of the European Court of Human Rights and former President of the Constitutional Court, will speak on the legal aspect, stressing that human dignity includes the right to know until the moment of death. Finally, Dr. Peter Kļava, paediatric resuscitator, will share profound reflections on our perceptions of self and life, inviting us to think of death as a passage rather than an end.
"In the end, 'to say or not to say' is not just about words, but about the courage to be with the other until the last breath. Truth can be hard, but it opens the door to peace - for those who leave and for those who stay. Our task is not to hide death, but to learn to meet it with an open heart. I invite everyone to watch the forum online and, as we listen to these conversations, to think about whether we ourselves would like to know what lies ahead?" Ilze Zosule invites.
The Right to a Dignified Death Forum 2025 is financially supported by the Society Integration Fund from the Latvian state budget.
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Media representatives wishing to attend the Forum or to be interviewed are kindly requested to apply by e-mail: [email protected]
Contact information for media:
Evelina Jonina
+371 27822256
