Research
At End Well, we believe that evidence and storytelling can reshape how individuals, families, and society approach serious illness, grief, and the end of life. Our research explores the intersection of healthcare, media, and culture — showing how ideas become action and how stories shift the way we live and die.
Research in Action: The Pitt Gets Death Right
Our work isn’t just theoretical—we’re shaping storytelling today. Through a partnership with USC Norman Lear Center’s Hollywood, Health & Society, we helped bring accurate and compelling information to the creators of The Pitt. These nuanced and powerful stories are having impact in the real world.
📰 Read more in our blog post: “When Television Gets Death Right: How End Well Is Transforming Stories About Dying”
📺 The Hollywood Reporter highlighted our role in influencing the show’s approach and its impact on audiences. Read HERE.
⚖️ This is a concrete example of how research, narrative, and media collaboration can shift culture.
Featured White Papers
Changing the Channel on Death: How Television Can Lead the
End-of-Life Revolution
Our newest research, produced in partnership with the USC Norman Lear Center Media Impact Project (2025), explores how television can build comfort and intention to have conversations about what matters most by portraying end-of-life experiences accurately and as a natural part of life.
Key insights:
Viewers who watched end-of-life storylines were significantly more likely to start conversations with loved ones about their wishes.
Authentic portrayals of illness reduced fear and encouraged planning behaviors like updating advance directives.
Humor, realism, and medical expertise made difficult topics more relatable and impactful.
Death On Television: Flipping The Script
Our first white paper (2023) laid the groundwork by showing how U.S. television has historically portrayed death — most often through violence, accident, or sudden tragedy. These depictions grab attention but rarely reflect the real way most people die: through illness, aging, or natural causes.
Key takeaways:
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The majority of TV deaths are violent, reinforcing fear and avoidance rather than acceptance or preparedness.
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When dying from illness or advanced age is shown, the dying are often just plot points in other characters’ stories.
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Entertainment has a profound role in advancing public health by preparing audiences for the universal experience of loss.
How the Two Papers Connect
Together, these studies form a progression of cultural insight:
Death on Television: Flipping the Script uncovered the problem — a media environment dominated by violent portrayals of death that distort our collective understanding.
Changing the Channel on Death shows the opportunity — how new, authentic portrayals of dying can normalize conversations, inspire action, and change how we prepare for life’s end.
In tandem, they offer both diagnosis and prescription: identifying what has been harmful, and demonstrating how more honest storytelling can heal.
Why Our Research Matters
90% of Americans say it’s important to discuss end-of-life wishes, but only 27% have done so.
Families who talk about care preferences experience less stress, anxiety, and complicated grief.
Media and healthcare together can normalize these conversations, expand access to supportive care, and ensure dignity at life’s end.
End Well’s research provides the evidence base for culture change — bridging media, healthcare, and lived experience so that dying well becomes part of living well.
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