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Summary
Planning for the end of life can be difficult. But by deciding what end-of-life care best suits your needs when you are healthy, you can help those close to you make the right choices when the time comes.
End-of-life planning usually includes making choices about the following:
- The goals of care (for example, whether to use certain medicines during the last days of life)
- Where you want to spend your final days
- Which treatments for end-of-life care you wish to receive
- What type of palliative care and hospice care you wish to receive
Advance directives can help make your wishes clear to your family and health care providers.
- Advanced Illness: Holding on and Letting Go (Family Caregiver Alliance)
- End of Life (Supporting a Terminally Ill Loved One) (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
-
End of Life: Helping with Comfort and Care
(National Institute on Aging)
-
End-of-Life Care for People Who Have Cancer
(National Cancer Institute)
Also in Spanish
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Last Days of Life (PDQ)
(National Cancer Institute)
Also in Spanish
- Nearing the End of Life (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish
Related Issues
- Autopsy (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
- Communication with Your Family and Your Doctor about Your Wishes (American College of Emergency Physicians)
- Conversations Before the Crisis: If Talking is So Important, Why Is it So Hard? (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization) - PDF
- Culturally Diverse Communities and End-of-Life Care (American Psychological Association) - PDF
- If You or Someone You Love is Very Ill...Ask Tough Questions (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization) - PDF
- Living Well with a Serious Illness: Talking with Your Doctor When the Future Is Uncertain (American College of Physicians) - PDF
- Offering Spiritual Support for Family or Friends (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization) - PDF
- Planning Your Own Funeral (Federal Trade Commission) Also in Spanish
- Shopping for Funeral Services (Federal Trade Commission) Also in Spanish
-
Things to Do After Someone Dies
(National Institute on Aging)
- Types of Funerals (Federal Trade Commission) Also in Spanish
Specifics
- Advanced Illness: Feeding Tubes and Ventilators (Family Caregiver Alliance) Also in Spanish
- Artificial Hydration and Nutrition (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
-
Coping with Advanced Cancer
(National Cancer Institute)
- End of Life (Caring for a Dying Loved One) (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- End of Life Care (AGS Foundation for Health in Aging)
-
End-of-Life Care for People with Dementia
(National Institute on Aging)
- How Can an Emergency Department Assist Patients and Caregivers at the End of Life? (American College of Emergency Physicians)
-
Understanding Health Care Decisions (at the End of Life)
(National Institute on Aging)
-
What Happens When Someone Dies?
(National Institute on Aging)
- When You Have Pain at the End of Life (American College of Physicians) - PDF
Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Terminal Care
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
Reference Desk
- Glossary (Center to Advance Palliative Care)
Children
- End-of-Life Care for Children with Terminal Illness (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Grieving the Loss of a Child (American Society of Clinical Oncology)
- When Somebody Dies (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Patient Handouts
- Deciding about treatments that prolong life (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Do not resuscitate orders (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Palliative care - what the final days are like (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish