Internet Resources for End-Of-Life Decision-Making
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Brochures on end-of-life issues (“Slow Medicine,” “Being Present with Ill Friends,” “Vigiling,” “End of Life Decisions and the Testimonies,” etc): www.quakeragingresources.org
Aging Institute of UPMC Senior Services and the University of Pittsburgh
Information/resources for older patients, family members, and caregivers: www.aging.pitt.edu
Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST): www.aging.pitt.edu/professionals/resources.htm
Other Resources
Here's a website that explains the "five wishes" document:
http://boomersguidetoeldercare.blogspot.com/2011/04/afraid-of-talking-about-end-of-life.html
Peter Warrington talked about this tool. He uses
it alot with his elderly patients to get them started
on making an advanced directive and living will,
and on thinking about who they want to reconcile
with or ask forgiveness of etc.. before they die.
You can complete it online or request hard copies
for a nominal fee.
https://fivewishesonline.agingwithdignity.org
Warren Witte mentioned the following website. For
a fee, it stores your directives, living will etc...
They give you a card to carry that contains an 800
number. Medical people can call the 800 number and
obtain copies...
www.docubank.com
Assorted Articles/Books
“Accepting death is difficult for patients and doctors, but it needs to be done,” by Manoj Jain, Washington Post (10/17/2011): www.washingtonpost.com
“World Enough and Time for a Good Death,” by Jane Brody; NY Times (10/31/2006), and “A Humorist Illuminates the Blessings of Hospice,” NY Times (1/23/07), found on Jane Brody’s website which includes other articles on end-of-life issues: www.janebrody.net/articles.html
“What should medicine do when it can’t save your life,” by Atul Gawande, M.D., The New Yorker (8/2/2010) (full article): www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/02/100802fa_fact_gawande
“Preparing for the final hours,” by Melinda Beck, Wall Street Journal (8/18/2009) (advice on advance directives): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204044204574356423438598710.html
Dying Well, by Ira Byock, M.D.; paperback available on www.Amazon.com
This study of how to die well displays uncommon vitality. Byock, president elect of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Care, is a gifted storyteller. Beginning with his own father's terminal illness, he details without scientific cant the process of decline that awaits most of us. The case studies, which form the humanistic soul of this work, never devolve into the maudlin or saccharine. Life on the edge of the great crossing is explored in all its sadness and pathos, but Byock also makes room for wisdom, hope and even the joy of final understanding. By recounting the passages of patients in his Missoula, Mont., practice, Byock makes a forceful case for hospice care and against physician-assisted suicide. He demonstrates how the physical pain and emotional despair of the dying may be handled. The family constellation of the terminally ill is also analyzed, with emphasis on a hospice's ability, through its doctors, nurses, psychologists and social workers, to help those left behind. Not only is this book informative, especially the question-and-answer section at the end, it is also insightful. Readers will sense Byock's personal growth as his understanding of final issues flowers through a 20-year specialization. Byock recalls his growth from a callow resident to a concerned son and, finally, to a healer with a mission. Whether it's the middle-aged mother who must resolve disillusionment with her sister, the bitter father of three who achieves serenity or the gutsy teenage girl with a rare genetic disease, the people whose sojourns Byock recounts receive from him the dignity they merit. From Publishers Weekly
Compiled by Betsy Wallace for Forum, February, 2012.