New End Well research reveals that television storylines can inspire real-life action around caregiving and end-of-life planning.
At End Well, we’ve long believed that the stories we tell shape the choices we make — especially when it comes to how we live, care, and die. Now, new research from End Well, conducted in collaboration with USC’s Norman Lear Center, confirms it: television and pop culture have the power to change how people engage with end-of-life planning and advance care decisions.
Television Can Change How We Plan for Death
The study found that viewers who watched storylines about death, dying, and caregiving were significantly more likely to take real-world steps toward advance care planning than those who didn’t.
After viewing these storylines, participants were more likely to:
- Initiate conversations about end-of-life care with loved ones
- Learn more about hospice and palliative care options
- Draft or update advance directives
- Share locations of legal and financial documents
- Help aging parents organize and plan for the future
In short: when people see compassionate, authentic portrayals of dying on television, they don’t just feel moved — they take action.
As End Well founder and board president Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider explained in her recent interview with Hospice News, this connection between storytelling and action is what End Well was created to spark.
“End-of-life planning is about preserving dignity and ensuring care aligns with what matters most,” says Dr. Ungerleider. “But beyond crisis prevention, planning for the end of life is really about planning for how we want to live.”
The Role of Pop Culture in End-of-Life Conversations
For decades, death was portrayed in media as something to fear or avoid — a failure of medicine rather than a natural part of life. But the cultural tide is shifting.
Shows like A Million Little Things and The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning are helping millions of viewers see death as part of living. These programs blend honesty, humor, and heart — offering models for grief, caregiving, and community that feel real and relatable.
“When people see these moments depicted with empathy and truth,” Dr. Ungerleider notes, “they start talking. They make plans. They approach the topic with less fear. That’s the power of storytelling.”
Why This Research Matters for Health Care Providers
End Well’s findings also open new doors for clinicians and healthcare professionals. When a patient mentions watching a show that touched on serious illness or loss, that’s an opportunity. Providers can naturally respond, “That episode raised important questions — have you thought about what would matter most to you in a similar situation?”
Simple, genuine exchanges like this can transform avoidance into dialogue and help families prepare long before a medical crisis.
Healthcare organizations can also incorporate storytelling into advance care planning education, using curated viewing guides or discussion prompts that help patients and families connect media moments to their own experiences and choices.
“The media is doing something medicine has long struggled with,” says Dr. Ungerleider. “It’s helping people see death not as failure, but as an inevitable part of life that can be faced with honesty, curiosity, and even hope.”
Changing the Culture of Death — Together
At End Well, our mission is to transform how individuals and society experience the end of life. From our annual Radical Bravery Summit to ongoing collaborations with Hollywood Health & Society, we’re working to make authentic portrayals of dying, caregiving, and grief part of mainstream culture.
Because when we change the stories we tell, we change what people feel brave enough to do.
Read the full interview with Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider in Hospice News →