How do you prompt difficult conversations about end-of-life medical care?

Conversations about end-of-life healthcare should begin long before decisions need to be made, says HealthMaker Bill Crounse, MD. They should involve healthcare providers and those in the support circle.

Transcript

00:00

I think technology will play a role here, too. And I mean, technology will keep people really,

00:06

really comfortable as they approach the end of life. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:19

I think you begin that conversation-- again, if we get to this notion of that trusted advisor who is a health care professional who is taking care of you.

00:26

And it might be with clergy. It might be with other experts that you bring into your fold. I think it's early and often, having conversations

00:35

about what it is you want. Some of us, for example, will have directives on our driver's

00:43

license in terms of our-- and that's not really an end-of-life decision, but it's a decision about what happens at our end of life and our organs and that sort of thing.

00:53

I think we need to, with our families, have those conversations, too, about what level of care

00:59

we expect, and to make sure the whole family is kind of on board with that.

01:06

I think technology will play a role here, too. And I mean, technology that will keep people really, really comfortable

01:14

as they approach the end of life-- new drugs, new ways of caring for people, and environments that, quite frankly, aren't as creepy as possible

01:22

as could be sometimes. So I'm hopeful about all of that. [AUDIO LOGO]