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A New Yorker’s Guide to End of Life Planning, Options, and Rights
The guide includes information on advance care planning, advance directives, palliative care, hospice, end of life options, patient rights, and caregiver options. It also includes a glossary, resource list, and copies of the forms you may need.
Consistently Updated & Accessible Information
With a generous grant from the New York Foundation for Eldercare, End of Life Choices New York developed a comprehensive guide on end of life planning options and rights.
The guide will continue to be updated as information and resources change. To support our efforts, please consider making a donation to keep the guide up-to-date and easily accessible.
Listen to the Guide
Full Guide
Overview Section
Advance Care Planning Section
Palliative Care Section
Hospice and End of Life Care Section
Caregiver Section
Glossary Section
Topics Covered
The guide provides a comprehensive overview on a variety of topics, such as:
Advance care planning
A process during which you share and document your wishes and values to guide your future medical care should you one day lose the ability to communicate your own wishes. This section explores what advance care planning is, how to do it, avoiding common mistakes, and other areas. It also provides an in-depth review of common advance directives (where wishes are documented) and a copy of each directive form is included in the guide.
Palliative care
Specialized medical care for those living with a serious illness which focuses on improving quality of life and managing symptoms. This section discusses why palliative care is an invaluable service, the scope and benefits of palliative care, and how to obtain palliative care.
Hospice and end of life care
This section covers a range of topics. It begins with a review of hospice care — a specialized type of palliative care for individuals with a terminal illness to ensure a better quality of life while someone continues to live until they die. After reviewing what hospice offers, how to receive hospice care at home or elsewhere, this section reviews patient rights and options at the end of life. It also offers information about palliative sedation, voluntarily stopping eating and drinking, and the status of medical aid in dying legalization in New York.
Caregiver resources
This section provides information about a variety of resources to support caregivers’ wellbeing. This section offers information about social and emotional support for caregivers, preventing and addressing burnout, and options to receive financial support.
Glossary, Resources, and Appendix
The remainder of the guide includes a glossary of relevant terms, a list of resources (including programs and services offered by a number of organizations and agencies), and copies of all advance directives referenced.