Communities across the country are now gearing up for Conversation Sabbath 2016 – an interfaith celebration of the importance of sharing our unique preferences for end-of-life care. From November 11 to 20, congregations of all…

Remember how the model of birth in America was transformed from the outside in. It wasn’t doctors who invited husbands with their video cameras into the room or doulas and bathtub births. It was people…

Reading the obituaries isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time but here at The Conversation Project we are pretty comfortable with death, and most importantly, fascinated by how people lived and spent their final days….

Joanna Baker knows firsthand what it’s like to serve as caregiver to both of her aging parents, Dorthie, an 84-year-old mother with Alzheimer’s disease, and Ed, her 92-year old father. As an only child, she…

Researchers Hart, et al reported in JAMA (June 2015) that in spite of pre-existing expression of wishes, 25 percent of ICU patients received care that differed from what was desired and that 15 percent of patients with a DNR died after receiving CPR. Such divergence from stated wishes creates moral distress for staff and for family members? If families were prepared to advocate for the patient, would this still happen?

It’s a perfect summer day and you’re taking a long stroll through the neighborhoods of Cambridge, Massachusetts, where The Conversation Project is based. As you move along the brick paths, past the historic buildings and…