A Better End

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Anchor lead: How can you prepare better for end of life? Elizabeth Tracey reports

Considering circumstances you’d choose surrounding your own death is a topic many avoid. Now a new book called Preparing for a Better End may help. Written by Dan Morehaim, an emergency medicine physician and former professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the book takes a comprehensive approach to issues we all should consider.

Morehaim: My hope is that advance directives and advanced care planning become normative in our society for everybody over the age of 18. That was actually done in La Crosse, Wisconsin. People had a more complete life cycle of end of life care. It was greater support at home, it reduced their healthcare costs dramatically. What I want is people to feel empowered and valued.  The main things that people fear are isolation and pain. And both of those can be managed.  :26

Morehaim says many experiences in the emergency department brought him awareness of how poorly most people prepare for end of life, and what a toll that takes on survivors. He hopes that the book will help people realize what a gift advance directives are for their survivors. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.