Clinician-Led Peer Support: Anu Gorukanti, MD, Laura Holford, RN, Sarah Warren, RN
When we make space for meaningful, compassionate conversations around mortality, we address one of the most profound sources of burnout and suffering in healthcare. EW: Introduce yourselves and share more about the missions of Don’t Clock Out and Introspective Spaces? We’re Laura Holford, RN, and Anu Gorukanti, MD, co-founders of Introspective Spaces, a social enterprise […]
Myth-busting About End-Of-Life: Jared Rubenstein, MD
Jared Rubenstein, MD is a pediatric palliative care doctor and medical educator at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, TX, USA. He is passionate about helping people talk about difficult things and believes that the use of satire, animation, and humor can facilitate these conversations. Check out his wonderful videos here! I […]
Building COMMUNITY: Lindsay Brant, RN
Lindsay Brant, RN, BSN, CCRN, EOLD, MFA, has been a critical care nurse in the Cardiothoracic ICU at UCLA Health for over a decade and is also a trained Integrative Therapist, Death Doula, and artist. Lindsay founded and chairs COMMUNITY, a nurse-led committee whose mission is to promote inclusivity, transparency and resilience in the CTICU […]
Mindfulness and Kids Care: Glen Komatsu, MD
Renowned pediatric palliative care physician, Glen Komatsu, MD shares about his work and why attending End Well is so impactful for his team. We recognize that there are three cultures to be acknowledged in the care of any human being: the culture of that individual child and family, the culture of the clinician/team and the […]
Supporting Veterans Through The End Of Life: Qwynn Galloway-Salazar
Qwynn Galloway-Salazar, PhD is the Founder and CEO of In Their Honor. As an Army Veteran, Spouse to a Combat Veteran, End-of-Life Doula, Storyteller, and Educator, she has devoted over two decades to supporting military and Veteran communities. In 2023, she launched her groundbreaking work alongside PsychArmor Institute on the “Caring for Veterans Through the […]
How to minimize pain for children in palliative care | Stefan J. Friedrichsdorf
Stefan J. Friedrichsdorf, a palliative care doctor, blends modern practices & timeless treatments to reduce pain in children from procedures, illness, & chronic conditions.
Too much time is spent accessing Medicaid | Adimika Meadows Arthur
Adimika Meadows Arthur examines the time spent by those enrolled in Medicaid — qualifying for, maintaining, and accessing care and why it matters at end-of-life.
Feasible & affordable palliative care with Ira Byock
Palliative medicine physician, Dr. Ira Byock, shares how when managed with care, the process of dying allows for growth, and how exceptional palliative care is possible.
Holding space for a beautiful death | Hui-wen Sato
Hui-wen Sato, pediatric ICU nurse and cancer survivor shares how she creates compassionate spaces of healing for patients, families and the people who care for them.
Hospice and Jimmy Carter’s Legacy
This February, as the nation commemorated Presidents’ Day, we also marked a noteworthy occasion for one of our leaders: Jimmy Carter, the country’s oldest living former president at 99, has now surpassed a year in hospice care. Through this time, Carter is showing us the value of hospice in ending life well. President Carter’s choice highlights […]
A Journey of Care, Culture and Compassion: An Interview with Ai-Jen Poo
Ai-jen Poo is the President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Executive Director of Caring Across Generations, Senior Advisor to Care in Action, Co-Founder of SuperMajority and Trustee of the Ford Foundation. We spoke to Ai-jen in advance of her appearance at the End Well Symposium on November 16th in Los Angeles. “Aging and illness are […]
Bridging the Divide: An Interview with Pediatric Nurse Hui-wen Sato
In this intimate conversation, our guest, a seasoned pediatric ICU nurse, delves deep into the juxtaposition of her unique professional backdrop with the broader end-of-life conversation. Hear more from Hui-wen Sato at the End Well Symposium on November 16th in Los Angeles. “I think the most significant societal belief about death and dying that needs to […]
Van Jones On Ensuring Psychedelic Therapies Reach BIPOC Communities
Activist and change-maker Van Jones talks with Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider about why we must end the war on drugs, and how psychedelic therapies may serve as a model for healing broken social bonds and raising up beleaguered spirits to foster love and connection in ourselves, our community, and our world.
The Power Of Psychedelics To Heal Social Injustice
Physician, thought-leader, and advocate Mellody Hayes, MD illuminates how psychedelics act on our default mode network and offers her vision of a future where psychedelic medicines heal personal and societal trauma.
An Insider Perspective On Putting Heart Back Into Healthcare
Healthcare innovator and change agent Mark B. Ganz offers a bracing call to action for leadership at every level to address institutional, cultural and individual biases that perpetuate racism and inequities in access and care.
Nobody Should Die Alone
At the start of the pandemic, many patients with COVID-19 were forced to face the end of life alone. Palliative care physician Sonali Wilborn and her team defied the cruel conviction that isolation was the only way to keep family and providers safe. Together, they created an inpatient hospice unit for COVID19 patients—in just eight […]
Palliative And Trauma-Informed Care For The Unhomed
Palliative care physician Naheed Dosani knows that delivering comfort and care to those on the street or in shelters requires understanding and treating the full person. Naheed shares the principles of trauma-informed care and why we must holistically examine all of the pressures that force people to live insecurely.
Transformative Philanthropy In Healthcare
Funding innovator and president of Cambia Health Foundation, Peggy Maguire is fearless in her approach to philanthropy; she goes straight to the really tough stuff. This philosophy has led Peggy and her team to nurture dynamic real-world solutions including bringing palliative care to the streets and into prisons, and how to address end of life […]
Sounds Of Caring: Frontline Caregivers During COVID-19
At the start of the pandemic, Northwell Health, a New York-based health system cared for the most patients with COVID-19 in the country. Sound designer and artist, Yoko Sen, offers this beautiful documentary to give us a glimpse of the realities these and other frontline workers faced and are facing still.
Reframing Health Narratives For BIPOC Communities
Abigail Echo Hawk, chief research officer of the Seattle Indian Health Board, and health researcher and nurse Camille Burnett, illuminate how data and disinformation are used to blame BIPOC communities for poor health outcomes. Instead, Abigial and Camille’s work reveals the enduring capacity of these communities for resilience and survival and how focusing on these […]
Toxic Healthcare Costs
Oncologist and researcher Fumiko Chino knows firsthand the emotional and financial devastation of losing a loved one. A graphic artist when her husband became ill and died, she became a doctor to help change the system from within. Deploying data and story, Fumiko makes a powerful case that it shouldn’t take a life savings to […]
Dr. Atul Gawande Talks About Coming To Terms With Mortality
Physician and writer Atul Gawande’s groundbreaking 2014 book, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, remains an important examination of many of the healthcare structures and assumptions that continue to fail. A foundational voice in the movement to reclaim dying as a human experience, Atul shares his perspective on why it’s more important […]
The Case For Beauty Through To The End
Palliative care physician and activist BJ Miller brings his expansive vision to bear on the state of the end of life experience. BJ shares his love of beauty and offers possible routes for how we might close the gap between intention and action in our search for solutions that reshape how we think about illness, […]
The Role Faith Plays In Clinical Care
Pastor Corey Kennard works to illuminate our understanding of the role of faith in delivering holistic care for the seriously ill and those nearing the end of life. In creating new organizational systems that respect and honor the dignity and diversity of all, Corey explores how human interactions are enhanced and communities expanded in the […]
Why Massachuesetts Is At The Forefront Of EOL Care
Meet Andrew Dreyfus, a leading advocate for serious illness and end of life healthcare reform. Deeply committed and enduringly optimistic about our shared responsibility to improve not just healthcare but health, Andrew’s perspective is one we hope other healthcare leaders will soon follow.
Taking A Long View On Health And Wellness
Funding innovator and President of Cambia Health Foundation, Peggy Maguire has a keen eye for the people, places and policies that have the potential to affect positive transformation in the health and wellness of individuals and communities—from birth to death. Peggy lays the foundation for how we might nurture thought to action to deliver accessible, […]
Caring For An Aging LGBTQ Population
When it comes to LGBTQ health and wellnes, Dr. Nii-Quartelai Quartey sees the big picture. Suffering a crisis of discrimination and social isolation, the aging LGBTQ population numbers in the millions, yet many individuals have to deny their identity to receive care and housing. Nii-Quartelai makes the case for intersectional analysis and multicultural collaboration as […]
Infusing End Of Life Conversations With Love
Palliative care physician and author Sunita Puri shares how learning to listen—to her patients, to cultural cues and to her own spirituality and intuition has enabled her to guide patients and families through the complexities of end of life care. Sunita’s deep understanding of how palliative care, hospice, and treatment decisions can improve a patient’s […]
Hospice Care While In Prison
Wrongfully convicted and incacerated for over thirty years, advocate Marvin Mutch shares his personal experience and his belief that compassionate care within prisons is an important step towards humanizing the criminal justice system. Accompanying illustrated story by graphic journalist Wendy MacNaughton originally appeared in the California Sunday Magazine.
The Pause: Taking Time After a Patient Dies
Amid the work of saving lives, teams of clinicians witness death with heartbreaking regularity—and then move on to the next patient in need. Emergency Department nurse Jonathan Bartels saw the toll this was taking and developed “The Pause” to encourage his peers to stop for a moment for moment of respect and reflection.
Report From The Frontline Of Health Care Transformation
Physician and systems-thinker, Tracy Gaudet shares what the Veterans Administration is doing to invite veterans to become partners in their healthcare journey.
An Invitation To Innovation in Healthcare
Despite his position leading a major health insurance provider, Mark Ganz was helpless when his mother’s wishes were not met at the end of her life. This experience fired his passion to create an intertwined network of care centered on the needs of people and their families throughout the cycle of life–from birth to its […]
Everyone Has Their Story Of End Of Life
Health care policy strategist and advocate Andrew MacPherson knows that finding common ground matters. And, time and time again, he’s seen that when it comes to end of life communication, presenting a combination of evidence, a plan of action and an invitation to share a personal story can unlock partisan politics, leading him to believe […]
Changing Healthcare From Within
Torrie Fields’s experience as a young uninsured person with cancer taught her firsthand how policy decisions can profoundly impact people’s lives. She now works to align social, political and medical systems to support person-centered care. Torrie’s ability to combine data, messaging and passion makes her a powerful force in the movement to extend palliative care […]
What We Used To Know About Death
“Culturally, we used to know how to talk about and prepare for death,” says Ivor Williams, Senior Designer at the Helix Centre at St Mary’s Hospital in Central London. Taking examples from the Ars Morendi and the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Ivor shares how the Helix Centre is learning to help patients and families […]
By Design: How A Space Can Shape Problem-solving
Architect Clive Wilkinson shares his studio’s functional and gorgeous solution for Chicago’s renowned Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. By designing an environment that nurtures both therapeutic healting and cross-functional learning Clive proves that the built environment can fundamentally alter the delivery, perception and impact of care.
Building Care: Designing A Hospital That Builds Community From The Ground Up
Whether designing hospitals, memorials or schools, architect Michael Murphy sees the role of architecture as a social responsibility. By paying particular attention to community dynamics, his environments integrate notions of healing, equity, access, and justice into the lives of the people they serve. Michael shares his thoughts on how the design of health care environments […]
Doctors And Design
Emergency physician Dr. Bon Ku, head of an innovative design and research lab at Thomas Jefferson University, shares how expanding the medical school curriculm can improve patient health. Bon shares his passion for providing future physicians with human-centered, design-thinking tools that enable them to navigate rapid changes in the clinical environment and move beyond a […]
Bringing End Of Life Planning To Underserved Communities
As Randi Belisomo knows, the spotlight on Chicago’s reputation for violent death often overshadows the day-to-day realities of its most vulnerable aging residents. By working across a network of civic, religious, health and community groups, she and her partners are bringing culturally competent, community-based advanced care planning to Chicago’s South Side Chatham neighborhood.
Orchestrating A Good Death
In the aftermath of holding her child as he died, Jessica Hanson, an ER and trauma nurse, was driven to empower others on the frontline of healthcare with the skills to invite loved ones into the end of life experience. Jessica shares how the quality of her final moments with her son gave her insight […]
Behavioral Scientist Maya Shankar On Why We Do What We Do
Award-winning host of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans, cognitive scientist Maya Shankar shares how even small changes in the way we design programs, products, and policies can better motivate healthy choices, improve individual wellness, and impact other fundamental measures of civic happiness and health.
Overcoming Implicit Bias In Healthcare
Data show that bias can cause disparities in diagnosis, treatment and health outcomes and choices made at end of life. Alexis McGill Johnson, Founder of the Perception Institute, and now President of Planned Parenthood, shares how strategies informed by neuroscience can help individuals and institutions recognize and release implicit and explicit bias.
Dr. Ira Byock, Palliative Care Pioneer, Shares Why Language Matters
Pioneering palliative care physician and advocate Dr. Ira Byock shares why words matter when it comes to talking about serious illness and dying. He suggests that by speaking clearly about end of life physcians and patients become partners in designing personalized treatment and care.