Category: End of Life Planning
You have been making plans your entire life and it is likely there are a few more during retirement. Americans have generally been making plans their entire lives and those in retirement need to make plans, even though those plans are some of the least comfortable plans for people at any age to make. They […]
Bikers in Texas can take final ride in an unusual hearse. A hearse designed to appeal to motorcycle enthusiasts is drawing attention in a Texas town, according to Everything Lubbock in “A Unique ‘Last Ride’.” While the basic design of hearses has not changed much, Derek Dunn of Lubbock, Texas had a different idea and […]
It appears that the way Americans want to pass away is rarely what actually happens. The training of medical professionals may result in different goals for them than those of their patient, according to The New York Times reports in “We’re Bad at Death. Can We Talk?“. When we get sick, doctors give us the […]
Majority of Americans have long supported the right to choose death. At least 20% of Americans will soon be living in states that allow a person to choose death, according to The New York Times in “Physician Aid in Dying Gains Acceptance.” Dr. Jack Kevorkian was prosecuted for assisting terminally ill patients to commit suicide, […]
Conversations rarely are about God, formal religion or jobs that will be missed. A chaplain, who has often visited with the dying, finds that people are more interested in their families and friends than religion, according to a CNN publication “What people talk about before they die.” According to the chaplain, people never talk about […]
Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. This type of care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve the quality of life for both the patient and the family. When he was a sophomore in college, B.J. Miller went […]
New project aims at alleviating concerns and regrets of the elderly. The Stanford Friends and Family Letter Project is a relatively simple idea that eases some last-minute concerns of the elderly, according to the New York Times report “Writing a ‘Last Letter’ When You’re Healthy.” It is not surprising that there are many things people […]
While a physician-assisted suicide law is supported by California residents, some doctors remain skeptical. California recently became the fifth state to enact physician-assisted suicide legislation with a strong support from the public but physicians who might be called upon to write the prescriptions, however, are not as certain about the law as the Los Angeles […]
The conversation between a doctor and his patient on end of life care should be a discussion. The Washington Post recently published an article that described a conversation between a doctor and his patient on end of life care that revealed the importance of listening. The article, “When a doctor and patient disagree about care […]
Death is truly our final frontier. Most of us like to imagine a story-book ending: lying in our bed at home, surrounded by those we love, with a skilled hospice worker tactfully hovering in the background. Sadly, 70 percent of Americans die in a hospital, nursing home or long term care facility. Why don’t we […]
