It’s not unusual for health care team members, whether you’re a physician, nurse, or other valued member of the team, to have difficulty knowing where to start when approaching conversations about end of life. Below…

Hospice is often described in terms of measurable services: pain management, interdisciplinary teams, comfort-focused care, equipment delivered, and hours spent at the bedside. These are accurate, but they capture only the exterior framework. What truly…

As we wrap up 2025, it’s a perfect moment for introspection. We deeply appreciate the insights we’ve gained from you—individuals and communities who have generously shared their experiences with advance care planning discussions. Throughout the…

This past year, I hosted Death Cafés at my college, Duke University. A death cafe is a community gathering where people come together to freely talk about whatever they want related to death and dying,…

Revising the What Matters to Me Workbook In 2021, The Conversation Project and Ariadne Labs published the “What Matters to Me Workbook.” Our goal was to create a resource for patients with serious illness that…

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?”…