Why human composting is a sustainable burial method | Katrina Spade
Katrina Spade, inventor of human composting, shares how she brought body composting to the world and why it is a sustainable alternative to conventional death care.
How personal stories can transform healthcare | Andrew MacPherson
Health policy expert Andrew MacPherson shares how the power of personal stories can drive policy change in palliative and hospice care, and why that matters.
Practical Solutions: Community Member – Sarah Grifferty
At 23, entrepreneur Sarah Grifferty saw first hand how difficult and complicated the practical side of settling an estate after a loved one dies can be. She founded LooseEnds to help make the process easier for others. Sarah will be leading a lunchtime conversation at End Well 2023 on November 16th in Los Angeles. Q: […]
Empathetic Technology: Community Member – Daniel Shaw
After losing several family members, entrepreneur Daniel Shaw decided to devote his life to building an enduring business that would effectively address the needs of bereaved people. Daniel will be leading a lunchtime conversation at End Well 2023 on November 16th in Los Angeles. Tell us a bit about yourself. I’m the co-founder and CEO […]
Are we learning to live better, or just longer?Â
We’re learning a lot about how to live longer. But what can longevity science teach us about how to live better? Bryan Johnson, a 45-year-old software entrepreneur, captured the public’s attention and imagination with an extreme anti-aging regimen detailed in depth by Bloomberg last month. With a team of 30 doctors and in-home medical facilities, […]
What Does The Research On Psychedelics Show?
Despite years of study and training, Stephen Ross, MD was surprised and intrigued when he heard of the promising therapeutic results found in psychedelic trials done prior to the 1970s. Join Stephen as he highlights the groundbreaking research—both current and past— into how psychedelic therapies can reduce pain and suffering at end of life and […]
Rick Doblin’s Vision For The Future Of Psychedelic Therapies
Rick Doblin, PhD, founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), highlights what MAPS is doing to bring psychedelics into mainstream medicine and how these substances might help us navigate the particular urgency of our times.
Bringing Psychedelic Therapies To Marginalized People
Psychotherapist and ketamine-assisted therapy clinic owner Courtney Watson explores how deep healing requires deep trust between client and therapist, and why Black, Indigenous and People of Color, Queer and gender diverse clients’ needs are best met by those whose lives are similar to their own.
A Hotline For Lonely Elders
Sophie Andrews was at the brink of suicide when she was saved by a telephone helpline. This defining event helped her see the need for a groundbreaking helpline for older adults. Learn how Sophie and her team have responded to the hidden issue of elder isolation and loneliness with programs full of love and laughter.
Ending Healthcare Bankruptcy For Elders
Serial entrepreneur Joseph Schneier is on a quest is to ensure no older adult goes bankrupt because of out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. Driven in part by his wife’s difficulty getting care as she transitioned, Josephoffers a model of enlightened entrepreneurship that suggests if we meet people where they are, we are more likely to help them […]
Rural Palliative Care
Palliative care physician Michael Fratkin was one of the first to understand and implement telehealth to serve his rural patients in order to reach and treat the whole person wherever they reside. His experience building a remote practice and familiarity with California’s trailblazing home-based palliative care reimbursement model offers tremendous hope that care can reach […]
Resonant Beauty: From Patient To Hospital Soundscape Designer
Through her work with top research institutions and major medical device manufacturers, sound artist and health care innovator Yoko Sen shares her work instigating a global conversation aimed at humanizing the soundscape in clinical environments.
Inclusive Design
Designer August de los Reyes understands how design can either limit or enhance the experience of places, products and life transitions. A longtime advocate of inclusive design principles that incorporate and enable a multiplicity of diverse user needs, August takes us on a journey in pursuit of the smart, seamless and even joyful outcomes that […]
A 90 Year Old Designs Tech For The Elderly
As we increasingly rely on technology to problem solve, conceptual designer Barbara Beskind is a testament to the power of personal input. Using her years of experience as an occupational therapist, Barbara, then aged eighty-nine, created the role of advisor for aging-related projects for international design firm, IDEO. Inventive, practical and always human-centered, Barbara embodies […]
AI and The Future Of Caregiving with Kai-Fu Lee| End Well
AI pioneer & venture capitalist Kai-Fu Lee believes that robots can love and connect, potentially changing the way we view caregiving today.
The Art of Designing Policy With Heart
As a young woman with cancer, Torrie Fields experienced firsthand the flaws in our healthcare system. Transforming her challenges into change, Torrie has become a leading palliative care activist and policy expert helping to create a future where ending well is possible for all.
Transforming The Hospital Soundscape
Sound designer Yoko Sen cracked corporate culture by asking the makers of hospital devices to share the last sound they would like to hear. Their personal reflections allowed her to find commonality with manufactures to help create the first new medical device sounds in over forty years. Focused as much on staff as on patients, […]
Pursuit Of Longevity: Fear Of Death Or Love Of Life?
By examining their own personal impulses – one toward facing death, the other towards radically delaying dying–friends and cultural pioneers Michael Hebb and Eric Weinstein explore the existential, ethical and invariably personal dimensions of the longevity movement and the merits of accepting or defying mortality.
What Designers Can Learn About End Of Life By Looking At Birth
Through his perspective as a design innovator, Chris Waugh sees health care systems in whole person terms and believes good design happens when empathy, creativity and community converge. Relating these principles to the end of life journey, he maps it along physical, intellectual and emotional dimensions to reveal how we might better treat dying as […]
Taking Control Of Your Health Records
What if, in the course of taking charge of our own health records, we could also contribute to the greater good? Entrepreneur Anil Sethi’s personal experience has led him to believe that consumer-focused technologies have game-changing implications for patient access, care and transparency.
How Pain Inspired Sara Auster To Become A Sound Therapist
Sound therapist Sara Auster plays in the space between science and art as she intertwines the benefits of sound with a musician’s gift for creating moments of transcendence. Whether to alleviate caregiver fatigue, counteract clinician burnout, or offer respite to the dying, the use of therapeutic sound holds exceptional promise for patients and the entire […]
How VR Might Help Us Die Better IRL
Virtual reality and augmented reality can create immersive experiences that the brain and body remember as being real, offering new avenues for human transformation. Jeremy Bailenson, Director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford, shares research into how these technologies are being used to treat pain, build empathy, and provide relief, and reveals their […]
The Digital Afterlife
While we can’t know where we go when we die, we do know our virtual lives can continue on long after we’re gone. Design strategist Rebecca Blum offers insight into how social media and emerging technologies can shape a person’s digital afterlife and what this means for those mourning a loss.