The first part of the panel was a presentation by Diego De Leo, an Italian doctor and expert on suicide and suicide prevention, based in Australia. His presentation did not distinguish between medically assisted suicide and other types of suicide.
De Leo noted that the suicide rate overall in the world is declining, with the biggest decline being among elderly.
One of the prominent exceptions to this decline is the United States, where the suicide rate is growing, especially among Americans aged 45 to 54, he noted. De Leo drew a correlation between this and the growing economic disparity, as well as lack of welfare, in the U.S. He pointed to research which shows poverty to be a major contributing factor in suicides around the world.
The doctor also spoke about suicide among elderly populations, which remains a significant problem despite some declines. In some countries, such as Italy, rates of suicide among young people are relatively low, but the rate rises with each age category.
Among the elderly, suicide correlates with a high prevalence of depression, physical illness, isolation and loneliness. Other risk factors include feelings of hopelessness, poor subjective sleep quality, family discord, financial problems, and bereavement.
Lack of social support, such as moral support from family and friends, is also connected to suicide in the elderly, De Leo said.
The symposium also included a talk on dementia and current models of healthcare, presented by Paulina Taboada, a professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, who stressed the importance of "whole-patient care," which she called the "biopsychosocial-spiritual model."
Taboada challenged participants to think about how spirituality can contribute "in its own right" to the health and wellbeing of patients, especially those in palliative care.
She also presented the model of whole-patient care created by Edmund Pellegrino, an American bioethicist and former president of The Catholic University of America who died in 2013.
Pellegrino argued whole-patient care should take into consideration four aspects: evidence-based medicine, the patient's best interests, the good of the patient as a human person, and the ultimate good of human life.
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency's senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.