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The End of Life Advisor: Personal, Legal, and Medical Considerations for a Peaceful, Dignified Death
In this simple guide, you'll find both practical step-by-step advice and compassionate, heartfelt guidance to dramatically improve the last days of life. Written by a mother-daughter team of hospice professionals with experience in nursing, law and psychology, The End-of-Life Advisor will show you the remarkable benefits of hospice care. If you're a healthcare or legal professional, you'll discover the important ways you can advise your patients and clients. If you're caring for a loved one, you'll learn how you can help make their last days much more comfortable. If you're planning for yourself, you'll understand the decisions you need to make now -- so you can find greater peace down the road. You'll get basic practical information on the ways a person can make their wishes known and maintain control over their end-of-life experience. This includes living wills, power of attorney for healthcare, Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders, choosing hospice care, managing pain, increasing comfort, and making after-death plans. You'll also discover caring and compassionate guidance to find or lend emotional support in this difficult time. You'll recognize the importance of the conversation -- the process through which each person's end-of-life wishes are communicated to family members and friends -- and you'll see how you can help facilitate this process in your role as a doctor, nurse, lawyer, friend, or family member. Along the way, you'll find inspirational, emotional, and often humorous stories of positive end-of-life experiences -- where pain and fear were replaced with comfort and peace.
176 pages, Paperback
First published December 2, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 4, 2017
This is, understandably, not a cheerful book, but it's a gentle introduction to the practical and personal issues one should consider when a family member is facing the end of life. Although written in 2009, everything seems applicable today, as well.
The majority of the book is ostensibly about hospice care. There are a few early and final chapters regarding planning ahead -- creating advanced directives and DNRs, discussing end-of-life care with your loved ones, making funeral plans, and discussing the concept of ethical wills. But the central portion of the book discusses the benefits of hospice and, in gentle tones, what happens (physically, intellectually, and emotionally) as the time of death approaches.
Unless you have never known someone who has died, or never had a family member or friend have to deal with the death of another person, there's not necessarily anything new here, but the material is presented in such a warm, comforting way that you'll likely find that you will feel more prepared than sad while reading.
The book ends with a wide variety of resources for gathering, collating, indexing your important papers (something that greatly appealed to me as a professional organizer), as well as guidance for knowing what to ask when seeking advanced care, considering hospice, and planning memorials or celebrations of life. There's also an essential after-death checklist that should help guide anyone through those difficult early hours and days.
I can't use the term "gentle" often enough with regard to this book. It's a mix of anecdotes and "this is what happens when..." kind of material. It's not an exposé on the death business or an over-the-top inspirational tome. It's kind, and gives you a path to be kind to yourself and your loved ones.
Perhaps the only flaw I found in the book is more of a personal quirk. Because the authors focus so much on the importance of preparing by having conversations with one's family members and physicians, the authors have chosen to italicize every single instance of the word "conversation" (in singular and plural) in the entire book.
The majority of the book is ostensibly about hospice care. There are a few early and final chapters regarding planning ahead -- creating advanced directives and DNRs, discussing end-of-life care with your loved ones, making funeral plans, and discussing the concept of ethical wills. But the central portion of the book discusses the benefits of hospice and, in gentle tones, what happens (physically, intellectually, and emotionally) as the time of death approaches.
Unless you have never known someone who has died, or never had a family member or friend have to deal with the death of another person, there's not necessarily anything new here, but the material is presented in such a warm, comforting way that you'll likely find that you will feel more prepared than sad while reading.
The book ends with a wide variety of resources for gathering, collating, indexing your important papers (something that greatly appealed to me as a professional organizer), as well as guidance for knowing what to ask when seeking advanced care, considering hospice, and planning memorials or celebrations of life. There's also an essential after-death checklist that should help guide anyone through those difficult early hours and days.
I can't use the term "gentle" often enough with regard to this book. It's a mix of anecdotes and "this is what happens when..." kind of material. It's not an exposé on the death business or an over-the-top inspirational tome. It's kind, and gives you a path to be kind to yourself and your loved ones.
Perhaps the only flaw I found in the book is more of a personal quirk. Because the authors focus so much on the importance of preparing by having conversations with one's family members and physicians, the authors have chosen to italicize every single instance of the word "conversation" (in singular and plural) in the entire book.
April 25, 2026
The End-of-Life Advisor approaches a subject most people avoid with a kind of steady clarity that makes it easier to face. Susan R. Dolan and Audrey R. Vizzard don’t frame end-of-life planning as something clinical or distant, but as a deeply human process that benefits from preparation, honesty, and care.
What makes the book work is the balance between practical guidance and emotional grounding. It walks through legal and medical decisions living wills, hospice care, DNR orders in a way that feels accessible rather than overwhelming. At the same time, the inclusion of real-life stories keeps the material anchored in lived experience, showing how these decisions play out in real families and real moments.
There’s also a quiet shift in tone that gives the book its impact. Instead of focusing solely on fear or loss, it reframes the end of life as something that can be approached with intention. Comfort, dignity, and even moments of connection become part of the conversation, which makes the subject feel less intimidating and more manageable.
At its core, this is a guide about control and compassion about making informed choices now so that difficult moments later are shaped by clarity rather than uncertainty. If you’re looking for a resource that combines practical steps with a humane, thoughtful perspective, this one offers both without losing its sense of empathy.
What makes the book work is the balance between practical guidance and emotional grounding. It walks through legal and medical decisions living wills, hospice care, DNR orders in a way that feels accessible rather than overwhelming. At the same time, the inclusion of real-life stories keeps the material anchored in lived experience, showing how these decisions play out in real families and real moments.
There’s also a quiet shift in tone that gives the book its impact. Instead of focusing solely on fear or loss, it reframes the end of life as something that can be approached with intention. Comfort, dignity, and even moments of connection become part of the conversation, which makes the subject feel less intimidating and more manageable.
At its core, this is a guide about control and compassion about making informed choices now so that difficult moments later are shaped by clarity rather than uncertainty. If you’re looking for a resource that combines practical steps with a humane, thoughtful perspective, this one offers both without losing its sense of empathy.
March 15, 2019
Honest and straightforward. Not all stories are good stories and not every sick person is a good person. But hospice is there for all of them. This book is a good balance between stories, information, and legal advice. I would highly recommend it.
May 14, 2009
Excellent book for the difficult to discuss details about the illness and death of a loved one written from the viewpoint of a hospice worker.
The anecdotal experiences are well chosen, compassionate, and thoughtful. I began reading this book because my monther-in-law decided to get hospice care instead of go through another round of chemotherapy. I have only known her a few years and felt very uncomfortable talking to her about her death, especially since we live several states apart. This book has helped me find ways to be there for her and to be more comfortable with the process of dying.
The anecdotal experiences are well chosen, compassionate, and thoughtful. I began reading this book because my monther-in-law decided to get hospice care instead of go through another round of chemotherapy. I have only known her a few years and felt very uncomfortable talking to her about her death, especially since we live several states apart. This book has helped me find ways to be there for her and to be more comfortable with the process of dying.
March 6, 2009
Ideas for end of life issues...peaceful deaths-written by a mom/daughter hospice volunteers-daughter is also a nurse....easy to read, lots of anecdotes!
June 11, 2011
Great, practical info, respectfully, thoughtfully presented.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews