Resources

Advance Care Planning

The Conversation Project: Helps start the conversation about the end of life including how to choose a proxy.

Advance Directive Forms State by State

Advance Directives: An excellent resource site offering information on advanced directives.

Compassion and Choices Information about end-of-life choices and care including advance directive information

POLST forms by state

National HealthCare Decisions Day

Dementia Values and Priorities Tool Dementia Advance Directives based on your values

The Dartmouth Dementia Advance Directive An advance care document for people concerned about developing Alzheimer's disease or another dementia

Donate Life America Learn more about organ donation

VSED Resources Information on Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking from End-of-Life Washington (more resources listed in books section below)

Final Exit Network Supporting The Human Right To A Death With Dignity

Hospices are wonderful organizations that serve individuals with a life expectancy of 6 months or less. Individuals do not need to be actively dying to seek the help of hospice. Some individuals do better and even leave hospice. We recommend engaging their fabulous services sooner rather than later.

Caregiver Resources

Caregivers’ Resources: More and more people are caregiving for their aging or ill loved ones. Get the support needed if you are a caregiver.

Caring Bridge A helpful communication tool

Lotsa Helping Hands A care and support calendar

Caring Village An app for coordinating and scheduling care

Share the Care An excellent resource for forming and maintaining a community care team

Caregiver Action Network

Death Literacy Groups

Death Cafés: Death Cafés are found all over the world and are a wonderful way to begin the conversation on death.

Death Over Dinner: A nonprofit organization supporting conversations on death through hosting dinner parties. From their website: “The dinner table is the most forgiving place for a difficult conversation. The ritual of breaking bread creates warmth and connection and puts us in touch with our humanity. It offers an environment that is more suitable than the usual places we discuss end of life. “

Reimagine End of Life: From their website: “Reimagine End of Life is a community-wide exploration of death and celebration of life through creativity and conversation. Drawing on the arts, spirituality, healthcare, and design, we create weeklong series of events that break down taboos and bring diverse communities together in wonder, preparation, and remembrance.”

Legacy Information

Story Corps Sharing stories site

StoryWorth Keeping stories alive

The Legacy Project Organization creative ideas to consider legacy

An Ethical Will or Wisdom Letter can be a valuable part of the legacy you leave
behind for others. It might take different forms. For example, it could be:

a place to name the values and principles that have guided you throughout your life
a reflection of the decision points in your life that led to successes or mistakes
stories and traditions you want to pass down or preserve
a place to name what and who you are thankful for
a place to offer encouragement and name your hopes for others

After Death Care: 

National Home Funeral Alliance: Educates and empowers families who want to care for their own dead. Connects families with resources to "promote environmentally sound and culturally nurturing death practices". 

Funeral Consumers Alliance empowers you to choose simple, meaningful, affordable after-death arrangements.

Green Burial Council Environmentally Sustainable After-Death Education & Options

The Inspired Funeral: readings, songs, rituals

BeCeremonial Ceremony examples

Pediatric Resources

The Dougy Center

Courageous Parents Network (Links to an external site.) is a non-profit organization and educational platform that orients empowers and accompanies families and providers caring for children with serious illness.
Through videos, podcasts, printable guides, Guided Pathways, and blogs, you will find wisdom from families and pediatric care providers.

Media List (Please respect copyrighted materials)

Book Recommendations (Note we are part of the Amazon Affiliate Program and we earn a small percentage of your purchase without any cost to you. Thank you.)

• The Art of Dying Well: A practical guide to a good end of life, Katy Butler

• Advice for Future Corpses and Those Who Love Them, Sallie Tisdale

• Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End-of-Life Care, Koshin Paley Ellison and Matt Weingast

• Being Mortal, Atul Gawande

• The Five Invitations, Frank Ostaseski

• The Grace in Dying, Kathleen Dowling-Singh

• Die Wise, Stephen Jenkinson

• Hope for the Best, Plan for the Rest: 7 Keys to Navigating a Life-Changing Diagnosis, Winemaker and Seow
  Workbook: Applying the 7 Keys to Navigating a Life-Changing Diagnosis

• By Your Side, Caring for the Dying at Home, Barbara Karnes

• Bold Spirit Caring for the Dying, Janet Booth * Gale Gagnier * Terrence Ho *Lesley James * Ashlee Jansen * Shannon Koppenhoefer * Janice Lombardo * Tamelynda Lux * Olga Nikolajev *Siby Varghese * Chrystal Waban

• A Year to Live, Stephen and Ondrea Levine

• Who Dies? Stephen and Ondrea Levine

• Dying Well, Ira Byock

• Caring for the Dying, Henry Fersko-Weiss

• A Beginner's Guide to the End, BJ Miller MD and Shoshana Berger

• Being with Dying: Cultivating compassion and fearlessness in the presence of death, by Joan Halifax

• How We Live is How We Die, Pema Chodron

• How to Enjoy Death: Preparing to Meet Life’s Final Challenge without Fear, Lama Zopa Rinpoche

• The Tibetan Book of the Dead or The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (Multiple translations of this work)

• Walking Each Other Home, Ram Dass

• Making Friends with Death: A Buddhist Guide to Encountering Mortality, by Judith L. Lief

• No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life, by Thich Nhat Hanh (Riverhead)

• Living in the Light of Death: On the Art of Being Truly Alive, by Larry Rosenberg

• Re-Imagining the End of Life: Self-Development & Reflective Practices for Nurse Coaches, Jan Booth

• When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalinithi

• Momento Mori: The Art of Contemplating Death to Live a Better Life, Joanna Ebenstein

• The Conversation, Volandes, MD

• At Home With Dying, Collett

• Extreme Measures, Jessica Zitter, MD

• Through the Valley of Shadows: Living Wills, Intensive Care, and Making Medicine Human, Samuel Morris Brown

• The Lost Art of Dying, L.S. Dugdale

• Graceful Exit, Ferrer, MD

• Holding Space on Loving, Dying, and Letting Go, by Amy Wright Glenn

• Dancing with Elephants, Jarem Sawatsky

• From Here to Eternity, Caitlin Doughty

• The Good Funeral, Long and Lynch

• Tuesdays With Morrie, Mitch Albom

• Marrow, Elizabeth Lesser

• Leaning Into Sharp Points: Practical Guidance and Nurturing Support for Caregivers, by Stan Goldberg

• Staring at the sun: Overcoming the terror of death, by Irving Yalom

• Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A life transformed by the dearly departing, Bronnie Ware

• The Three Regrets, Tenzin Kiyosaki

• The End of Fear: A spiritual path for realists, by Richard Schaub

• Overcoming the Fear of Death: Through each of the 4 main belief systems, by Kelvin Chin

• Share the Care, by Capossela and Warnock

• The Pagan Book of Living and Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over, Starhawk

• At the Time of Death: Symbols & Rituals for Caregivers and Chaplains, by David Bieniek

• A Gentle Practice for Tough Times: Contemplations for Dying and Living, Ellen Hufschmidt

• With Our Own Hands: A Guidebook to Ritual Blessing of the Dead, Ellen Hufschmidt

• Sacred Dying: Creating Rituals for Embracing the End of Life, Megory Anderson

• The Fault in Our Stars, A Young Adult novel by John Green

• You’ve Reached Sam, by Dustin Thao - a Young Adult novel exploring loss

• Walk Her Up the Stairs: A Caregiver’s Healing & Spiritual Journey, by Loretta Fox

  Books on Hastening Death

• The VSED Handbook, Kate Christie

• VSED Support: What Friends and Family Need to Know Nancy Simmers

• Choosing To Die: A Personal Story: Elective Death By Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED) in the Face of Degenerative Disease, by Phyllis Shacter

• Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking: A Compassionate, Widely-Available Option for Hastening Death by Timothy E. Quill (Editor), Paul T. Menzel (Editor), Thaddeus Pope

• Dignity Day: A guidebook for anyone searching for comfort and clarity relative to the end-of-life medications, by Gabby Elise Jimenez

• The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America, by Anita Hannig

• In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss, Amy Bloom

Grief Books and Resources

• The Handbook for Companioning the Mourner, Alan Wolfelt

• Grieving Is Loving: Compassionate Words for Bearing the Unbearable, Dr. Joanne Cacciatore

• Bearing the Unbearable, Dr. Joanne Cacciatore

• The Modern Loss Handbook: An Interactive Guide to Moving Through Grief and Building Resilience, Rebecca Soffer

• What's Your Grief?: Lists to Help You Through Any Loss, Haley and Williams

• The Wild Edge of Sorrow, Francis Weller

• A Grief Observed, C. S. Lewis

• A Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion

• What to Do When I am Gone: A Mother’s Wisdom to Her Daughter, Suzy Hopkins.

• What’s Your Grief: A website with articles on many types of grief

• The Artists’ Grief Deck Artistic Cards with quotes for starting conversations or journaling

Books for Children

(Caregivers are encouraged to read these books first,
they may not all be appropriate for every age or situation.)

• When Someone Dies, Sharon Greenlee

• What Color is Death, Daddy?, Dr. Joanne Cacciatore

• How Do You Care for A Very Sick Bear, Vanessa Bayer

• The Goodbye Book, Todd Parr

• I’ll See You in Your Dreams Tonight: A Book of Hope for Grieving Kids, Katie Cosgrove

• Duck, Death and the Tulip, Wolf Erlbruch

• Always Remember, Cece Meng

• The Dragonfly Story: Explaining the death of a loved one to children and families, Kelly Owen

• Badger’s Parting Gifts, Suan Varley

• Bear and Bird, James Skofield and Jennifer Thermes

• The Memory Tree, Britta Teckentrup

• Lifetimes: The Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children, Brian Mellonie and Robert Ingpen 

• Maybe Dying is Like Becoming a Butterfly, Pimm van Hest

• Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, Tomie dePaola

• Death is Stupid, Anastasia Higginbotham

• The Invisible String, Patrice Karst

• Tear Soup, Pat Schwiebert

• Little Tree, Loren Long

• The Flat Rabbit, Bardur Oskarsson

• Cry Heart, But Never Break: Glenn Ringtved, Charlotte Pardi

• When Miss Bluebird Died, Jennifer Reich, Kristine Kollasch

• When Dinosaurs Die, Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown

• I Miss You: A first look at death, Thomas and Harker

• Wherever You Are, my love will find you, Nancy Tillman

• Sad Isn’t Bad, Mundy

• A Stone for Sascha, Aaron Becker

• Tess’s Tree, Jess M. Brallier

• A Terrible Thing Happened, Holmes and Mudlaff

• When I Feel Sad, Cornelia Maude Spelman

• Where Do They Go? Julia Alvarez

• The Funeral, Matt James

• The Purple Balloon, Raschka

• The Heart and the Bottle, Oliver Jeffers

• Lasting Love, Wright and Heath

• When Sadness is at Your Door, Eva Eland

• Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White

• The Memory Box: A book about grief, Joanna Rowland

• Boats for Papa, Jessica Bagley

• Map of Memory Lane, Arnoldy

Movies

• The Fault in Our Stars - a love story between two young cancer patients

• Paddleton - Two friends deal with Medical Aid in Dying

• Tuesdays With Morrie

• Lullabye

• The Life of Death (animated on YouTube)

• Departures

• The Farewell

• A Monster Calls

• A Good Death

• Two Weeks (Starring Sally Fields)

• My Girl

• Terms of Endearment

• After Life

• Soul (Disney)

• Coco

• Ms. White Light Amazon Prime

  Documentaries

• The Last Ecstatic Days

• Zen and the Art of Dying - profiles Zenith Virago

• Griefwalker - profiles Stephen Jenkinson

• Speaking Grief Family Profiles of Grief

• An Honest Death (Japanese) A Palliative Care Doctor’s Final Days

• Dying Wish (VSED)

• The Handmade Death of Herta Sturmann (VSED)

• Rosemary Bowen (VSED)

• End Game

• Extremis

• Go in Peace

• Surviving Death (Netflix)

• When You Die Raising Awareness of End of Life

Podcasts

• End of Life University - Karen Wyatt, MD -podcast, and resource for Death Education.

• Dead Funny, Dead Serious with Mitzi Weiland

• Doing Death: Amanda Blainey

• Death in the Afternoon: The Order of the Good Death with Caitlin Doughty

  Songs

• I Don’t Want to Die in the Hospital, Connor Oberst

• I’ll Fly Away, Multiple artists

• Sirens, Pearl Jam

• Paths That Cross, Patti Smith

• Keep Me In Your Heart, Warren Zevon

• When I Go Away, Levon Helm

• Brokedown Palace, Grateful Dead

• I Shall Be Released, The Band, Joe Cocker, and others

• People Get Ready, Eva Cassidy

• Fixin’ To Die, Rory Block, Bonnie Raitt, and others

• Company of Friends, Danny Schmidt

• Tears in Heaven, Eric Clapton

• For a Dancer, Jackson Browne

• Say, John Mayer

• Long May You Run, Neil Young

• Take it with Me, Tom Waits

• Time, Tom Waits

• Shiver Me Timbers, Tom Waits

• You Can Never Hold Back Spring, Tom Waits

• No One Knows I’m Gone, Tom Waits

• Let The Mystery Be My Life, Iris Desment

• Not Afraid To Die, Avett Brothers or Gillian Welsh

• When All is Said and Done, Geoff Moore and the Distance

• Wide River to Cross, Buddy Miller

• Autumn Leaves (many covers)
  

Other Websites

• Conscious Dying Collective  Doula Training and Enrichment Courses

• Center for End of Life Transitions  Education and Resources

Apps

• WeCroak Quotes about death, dying, or grief 5 times a day

• Leap More from the folks at WeCroak

Other

• The Death Deck Conversation starters

• Go Wish Cards Help to discern values and priorities