Live your best to life’s end.
There’s still lots of life to live–whatever health and medical decisions that may be ahead. For many, feeling ‘alive’ right to the end means feeling useful for as long as possible. For others, it’s peace of mind that brings a peaceful end. For most, it’s feeling wanted, valued, respected and listened-to that are all-important. The pleasures of everyday life can be just as meaningful: what makes you smile, what brings you happiness and joy and what gives you comfort.
It’s often that small stuff that can make a big difference: There are creative ways to accomplish what may seem out of reach – like the man on the rock who may not be able to be physically near an ocean, but may be able to turn to technology to inspire a solution. Paying attention to small pleasures shifts the focus from ‘what I don’t want at life’s end’ to ‘what will make a positive difference to me at life’s end.’ It’s an approach with its own reward: helping someone have the best end can help everyone involved.
Need Inspiration?
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Need Information?
It can be a long road to learning about and planning for the best end-of-life experience. There’s lots to consider and emotions to tackle. Pick your own starting points: personal or medical decisions or specific topics. You can come back for more and then document your end of life wishes
Caring for aging parents: Chronic illness
Heart and kidney failure, frailty, Alzheimer’s, Lung Disease, Diabetes
Palliative Comfort Care and Quality of Life
The Palliative and Hospice approach: comfort and quality of life is what it’s all about
Understanding Medical Terms and Jargon
Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation: CPR, Do Not Resuscitate: DNR, Allow Natural Death: A.N.D
Traditions, Culture and Being Remembered
Time honored customs can help at life’s end, ways to keep memories alive.
Modern Medicine can keep you alive
End of life: grief and bereavement
Knowing what End of Life looks like can ease the process; often grief starts long before the end.
Decision-Makers: Consent and Conflict
Surrogate, Substitute, Agent, Proxy: who will make sure your end of life wishes are followed.
Advance Directives, Living Will, End of Life Wishes
Create your own end of life, Advance Directives Living Will with an interactive form

A beautiful death
“My mother was ‘dying’ for about 10 years – with her sickness, she seemed often on the brink of death, and then she’d rally. We’d all said our goodbyes a number of times. But on the day she actually died, my father was in her bed, his arm around her, holding on to...

Taking Palliative Care Mainstream with the help of ePatients
Charlie Blotner, 21-year old ePatient and co-founder of the tweetchat for those with brain tumours #btsm. In learning more about Palliative Care, it just made sense that it should be part of standard services. Alas, not: If you’ve seen one #palliative care program, you’ve seen . . . one palliative care program – Jill Mendlen

Dr. Michael Fratkin is an enabler
“Most of my healing has little to do with medicine.” “My approach has more to do with being there, listening and helping people with a different approach.” Fratkin, entrepreneur creator of Resolution Care, is a Palliative doctor
Organ and Tissue Donation: a learning experience
Donna Renzetti (left, standing) Vice President, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer at West Park Healthcare Centre came in on a Saturday to make sure there were plenty of chairs at the ready for the Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN) presentation on organ...
Dr Paula Rochon: Medications and the Elderly
Dr Paula Rochon, Geriatrician,Vice-President Research–Women's College Research Institute; Adjunct Scientist Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit I heard Dr Paula Rochon speak to a small but extremely attentive group of senior seniors. The topic: Medications and the...
Substitute Decision-Makers Suffer Post-Traumatic-Stress
Surrogates suffer in their role as patients' decision-makers "A Systematic review: the effect on surrogates of making treatment decisions for others"– published in the Annals of Internal Medicine – was the topic of discussion on Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative...
BestEndings Flash Video Chat: Talking about dying
Impromptu End of Life conversation captured on video It started out as an experiment: there was a new video camera, an excuse to get together with a good friend who 'does the lighting' for movies and commercials. He makes everything look beautiful. And why not get in...
5 Steps to a Patient Centered Hospital
Which came first: hospitals or patients? Although filled to the brim with patients, hospitals were created to support doctors, not us patients. Historically, their organizational structure focused on doctors’ needs and doctors’ requirements. The concept of centering...
Gaps in End of Life information: a layman’s point of view
With Mary Ito, host of FreshAir: celebrating after our interview on CBC Radio about what this 'layman' brings to conversations about end of life Click to listen: 11 minutes