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Summary
Planning for the end of life can be difficult. But by deciding what end-of-life care best suits your needs when you are healthy, you can help those close to you make the right choices when the time comes.
End-of-life planning usually includes making choices about the following:
- The goals of care (for example, whether to use certain medicines during the last days of life)
- Where you want to spend your final days
- Which treatments for end-of-life care you wish to receive
- What type of palliative care and hospice care you wish to receive
Advance directives can help make your wishes clear to your family and health care providers.
- Advanced Illness: Holding on and Letting Go (Family Caregiver Alliance)
-
End of Life
(National Institute on Aging)
-
End-of-Life Care for People Who Have Cancer
(National Cancer Institute)
Also in Spanish
-
Last Days of Life
(National Cancer Institute)
Also in Spanish
- Preparations as You Near the End of Life (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish
-
Providing Care and Comfort at the End of Life
(National Institute on Aging)
Also in Spanish
Related Issues
- Brain Death (National Kidney Foundation)
- Living Well with a Serious Illness (American College of Physicians) - PDF
- Planning Your Own Funeral (Federal Trade Commission) Also in Spanish
- Shopping for Funeral Services (Federal Trade Commission) Also in Spanish
- Types of Funerals (Federal Trade Commission) Also in Spanish
-
What to Do after Someone Dies
(National Institute on Aging)
Also in Spanish
Specifics
- Artificial Hydration and Nutrition (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
-
Coping with Advanced Cancer: Choices for Care Near the End of Life
(National Cancer Institute)
- End of Life Care (AGS Health in Aging Foundation)
-
Making Decisions for Someone at the End of Life
(National Institute on Aging)
Also in Spanish
- Nutritional Support for People Who Are Dying or Severely Demented (Merck & Co., Inc.) Also in Spanish
-
Young People Facing End-of-Life Care Decisions
(National Cancer Institute)
Also in Spanish
Clinical Trials
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Terminal Care
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Diversity and similarity of near-death experiences across cultures and history: implications...
- Article: Congruence between preferred and actual place of death and its association...
- Article: Mental health trajectories, resilience and psychosocial factors in palliative care workers...
- End of Life Issues -- see more articles
Children
- Children and End of Life (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society)
Patient Handouts
- Deciding about treatments that prolong life (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Do-not-resuscitate order (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Palliative care - what the final days are like (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
The information on this site should not be used as a substitute for professional medical care or advice. Contact a health care provider if you have questions about your health.