end of life care

Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider (right) interviews comedian Tig Notaro about drawing humor from her breast cancer diagnosis. Ungerleider is the founder of End Well, a nonprofit focused on shifting the American conversation around death. Their discussion took place in November at End Well's 2023 conference held in Los Angeles.

Doctors are pushing Hollywood for more realistic depictions of death and dying on TV

5:00am December 28, 2023

by April Dembosky

Clinicians who work with people at the end of life say the most common television depictions of death aren't representative of what happens in the real world. They want to flip the script.

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Hospice provides vital end-of-life support and palliative care to terminally ill patients. But it's costing Medicare billions. A new approach would eliminate waste in the program.

Health & Safety

Medicare tests a solution to soaring hospice costs: Let private insurers run it

4:21pm April 13, 2023

The end-of-life benefit costs billions a year. A new approach aims to eliminate waste and weed out bad actors, while making the care more inviting to those who most need it.

The sign for Glen Oaks Alzheimer's Special Care Center is seen on Google Earth. The facility pronounced a living woman dead and is being fined $10,000.

Iowa Alzheimer's care facility is fined $10,000 after pronouncing a living woman dead

11:20am February 04, 2023

by Kaitlyn Radde

The woman was unresponsive, and nurses were unable to detect her breathing. A state agency report found the facility "failed to ensure residents received dignified treatment and care at end of life."

Audrey Grinker receives a visit from her doctor after friends found her on the floor of her apartment, she had mixed up her medications and became very ill. She was acting out in the hospital, trying to escape, sitting on the floor near the nurses' station, and walking into other patient's rooms. Aventura Hospital, Miami, Fla., March, 2017.

Health & Safety

As she nursed her mom through cancer and dementia, a tense relationship began to heal

5:00am January 08, 2023

by Max Posner

Photographer Lori Grinker struggled to get along with her mother all of her life. When she moved in with her to help with her failing health, old wounds melted away.

Assistant Director of Nursing Jenn Schmid is in one of Livingston HealthCare's two ICU rooms. Before COVID-19, Schmidt's job was mostly administrative — but she stepped in to fill the hospital's need during the area's coronavirus surges. One duty she to

Health Care Workers Try To Bring COVID-19 Patients Joy, Less Isolation As Life Ends

11:22am December 31, 2020

by Nick Mott

Medical staff are liaisons to the sick and dying for relatives not allowed at bedsides. The emotional toil at one Montana hospital is a case study of what caregivers are grappling with across the U.S.

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When NPR's TV critic Eric Deggans' mother died, the funeral service was streamed online in order to adhere to social distancing guidelines. But the usual comfort and sense of community of sitting shoulder to shoulder with others at his mother's church cou

Health & Safety

When A Beloved Life Ends, Virtual Hugs Can't Replace Human Touch

12:10pm May 03, 2020

by Eric Deggans

How many more might recover, if they had a loved one by their side while fighting for life? An only son aches for the healing power of human touch in his mother's last days, and at her funeral.

Family Of Colorado's First Victim Tried To Provide A Good Death At A Distance

8:00am April 05, 2020

by John Daley

Retired Denver lawyer Mike Farley, 87, sensed he wasn't going to make it. His family said dying alone was hard for him, but he was able to say his goodbyes over video calls.

Illustration of a young doctor trapped in a snow globe, by Katherine Streeter for NPR.

Health & Safety

Working The Christmas Shift, 2 Young Doctors Learn What It Means To Be A Healer

5:00am December 24, 2019

by John Henning Schumann

There's more to being a good doctor than providing medical care to your patients, physicians learn early in their training. And sometimes that lesson comes at the darkest time of year.

Dr. BJ Miller's new project, the Center for Dying and Living, is a website designed for people to share their stories related to living with illness, disability or loss, or their stories of caring for someone with those conditions.

After A Freak Accident, A Doctor Finds Insight Into 'Living Life And Facing Death'

10:03am December 04, 2019

by Terry Gross

In 1990, BJ Miller was hit with 11,000 volts of electricity. That accident took most of his limbs, but the event and his recovery inspired him to pursue a career as a palliative care physician.

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Health & Safety

How Working On Christmas Became A Privilege For 2 Young Doctors

8:02am December 25, 2018

by John Henning Schumann

In late December, medical interns are halfway through their first year of hands-on work with patients. The holiday season marks a special challenge as these doctors take on more responsibility.