News Briefs – FEBRUARY 2023
by INELDA
Exploring Grief in the Metaverse
A recent article in MIT Technology Review by Hana Kiros looks at grief meetups in the metaverse. For four months, Kiros explored visitors at Death Q&A, a weekly hourlong session created for virtual reality users to visit and express their feelings anonymously through avatars. The space is facilitated by co-facilitators, Ryan Astheimer, a spiritual life coach and Tom Nickels, a former hospice volunteer in his 70s (whose son runs EvolVR, a virtual spiritual community). Having virtual spaces such as Death Q&A and Saying Goodbye (a space for mourning the dead where Kiros also spent time) can help many with social isolation. They can also provide an escape for those who may be bed bound but who, with their VR glasses, can travel the world and beyond.
Machine Learning Boosts Conversations on End-of-Life Care
Researchers at Penn State University found that clinicians who were prompted by electronic nudges from a machine learning algorithm that predicts mortality risk quadrupled their rates of end-of-life care conversations. The study also found that the reminders triggered by machine learning significantly decreased use of aggressive chemotherapy and other interventions that could lead to hospitalizations in patients’ final days. The study included 20,506 patients treated for cancer at several Penn Medicine locations and is the largest study of a machine learning-based intervention focused on serious illness care in oncology to date.
Canada Performs Highest MAiD Donor Organ Transplants
A study of medical aid in dying (MAiD) recipients from 2021 showed that Canada is performing the most organ transplants from MAiD patients of the four countries studied (Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain). In Canada, patients who have diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis are eligible for organ donation. This may play a role in why Canada has made advances here, as end-stage cancer—one of the most common reasons people seek MAiD—is a disqualifier for organ donation. The debate around MAiD in Canada is heated, as individuals whose sole medical condition is mental illness will have access to MAiD starting March 2023. Doctors, bioethicists, care providers, and the public are all weighing in with their newest policy.
