Welcome to Talking Matters, a blog featuring updates, stories, and interviews from The Conversation Project. Check back each week for a new post!
Katy Butler is a journalist, essayist, and author of Knocking on Heaven’s Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death. She founded Facebook’s “Slow Medicine” group and is currently writing a practical manual to…
Someone you care about has asked you to be their health care proxy — now what? First, it is a huge honor. If you accept the invitation to be your friend or loved one’s proxy…
Like most healthy 24 year olds, I rarely want to think about my own eventual death. Yes, I’ve had moments when my own end-of life wishes occurred to me — when I’ve heard stories on…
Some patients take you by surprise. Last year, Sheila* — an active and fit woman in her 70s — was found on the floor after suffering a massive stroke. Only one day earlier, Sheila had…
Advances in modern medicine mean that more people live longer with disease than ever before. With disease come difficult choices. These days, patients and their loved ones are frequently put in positions where they have…