End of Life

The evidence firmly exists that music plays an important role in almost everyone’s life, and for older adults, it can help support healthy brain aging and build cognitive reserve. We also have evidence of the therapeutic value of music in helping patients to recover from illness or to endure difficult…

Survey results of Americans have remained consistent over many years. In August of 2024, the Gallup Organization reported that just over 7 out of every 10 Americans believe that doctors “should be allowed by law to end the patient’s life by some painless means if the patient and his or…

None of us leaves this world alive, and as Dame Cicely Saunders once said, “How people die remains in the memory of those who live on.” We are therefore fortunate to live in an era when the option of having a “death doula” has become more commonplace in helping individuals…

One year ago, President Jimmy Carter made the important decision to transfer to hospice care, rather than continue the cycle of intermittent acute-care hospitalizations that kept him away from home and apart from his dear wife Rosalynn. Not only was this a highly personal decision for him and his family,…

For such a universal experience, it’s somewhat shocking that so many of us know so little about what actually happens as death approaches. Most of us have been raised in an era and environment where death happens in a facility or setting apart from everyday life, and frequently those in…

While death is universal, how one’s life draws to a close and is commemorated is often very individualistic. Some refuse to plan or consider what should happen while others hope to script their funeral down to the music played, the images shown and the speakers selected to give eulogies. And…