5 Money Lessons From People Caring for Their Elderly Parents
This New York Times article explores the challenges of planning for aging parents, with Dr. Atul Gawande, author of Being Mortal, pointing readers to The Conversation Project’s What Matters to Me Workbook (co-designed with Ariadne Labs) as a practical, trusted resource for having these conversations before a crisis.
What We’ve Forgotten About “Ordinary Dying
In this End Well 2025 talk, Dr. Kathryn Mannix reflects on how medicine’s life‑saving advances have also skewed our understanding of dying, and why we need to reclaim the stories of ordinary dying to make sense of it for ourselves and others.
A former inmate finds meaning through his work as a death doula
In this NPR piece, a former inmate shares how becoming a death doula helped him find purpose and healing, using presence and compassion to support people at the end of life while reshaping his own path forward.
How “The Pitt” Can Prepare You for the End of Life
This piece looks at how The Pitt portrays end‑of‑life care in Season 2, highlighting what the show gets right about death doulas and the realities of being present, honest, and human at the end of life.
National Healthcare Decisions Day Round Up: Here are some of the many amazing examples of what we saw circulating in the news and online, potentially offering food for thought for what you might do next year:
- Annual National Healthcare Decisions Day spotlights role of advance care planning via McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse
- American Society on Aging (ASA) and Compassion & Choices team up to share free resources
- South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations shared information on their website for their members
- The Community Health Council of Lebanon County, through its Aging Inspired Advance Care Planning Coalition, hosted a series of special community events in recognition of NHDD
- Triage Cancer published guidance emphasizing the importance of NHDD in reducing the burden on families by having legal documents, such as advance directives and health care proxies, in place
- The John A Hartford Foundation shared background and promoted tools in honor of NHDD
What have you been reading, watching, listening to this month that struck a chord or helped you start a conversation about what matters? Share in comments below.