There is no denying that when it comes to caring for individuals there is great power in shifting from a typical “What’s the matter with you?” clinical-based approach to a combined “What matters to you?”…

Beth Gamel, Managing Director at Argent Wealth Management, is no stranger to experiences with death. So when she heard Ellen Goodman talk about The Conversation Project’s message about the importance of end-of-life care conversations, it personally hit home.

If you’re faced with decisions on your own, here’s what matters to me, right now. As it changes, I promise to tell you…

The key to ensuring that everyone’s end-of-life wishes are respected is ensuring that healthcare providers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and resources necessary to respect the wishes of their patients’. Check out this piece that offers 6 helpful resources for healthcare providers who are dedicated to honoring the values of their patients’.

If you are in Paris, Texas or Paris, France, and you get word that I am near death, please do not feel that you need to rush to my bedside.  You’ve always been “there” for me in life, and that’s what matters to me.

It’s important to ask a loved one specific questions about their end-of-life wishes so they can be acted on, but the most important part of the discussion for me was the chance to have a heart-to-heart discussion with him. I will cherish hearing priceless stories about his life — and, in turn, my family’s life — for a long time. I hope when I’m his age I, too, can say with confidence, “I’ve had a pretty good life.”