“We really need to free dying from the hospital and take it back into the community where it belongs,” said Dr. VJ Periyakoil, director of palliative care education and training at Stanford University School of Medicine.
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June 10, 2016

“An illness is a story for people. It’s a chapter in their life. It may be, in some cases, the last chapter in their life. Your chance to be the author of what happens in your story is fundamental to the meaning of people’s lives. That story of what happens is how we think, it’s how we breathe, it’s how we live our whole life.” More →

March 27, 2015

“God moves through the artist,” says Rev. Walter Smith, president of the HeathCare Chaplaincy in New York City, and the paintings, sculpture, and installations that result are “avodah”—a single act of both work and worship. More →

July 26, 2013

“A lot of people in caregiving situations ask, ‘Why is God doing this to me? Where is God in the midst of all this?’ and they really struggle with spiritual matters,” says Rev. Kate Bryant. Her church started a special ministry to support parental caregivers. More →

November 21, 2012

Doctors and patients make health care decisions, says Dr. Bruce Silva of the Sierra Vista Regional Health Center, “but then it has to be okay’d by someone else who puts their belief systems and their ethics on me and on my patients.” More →

March 25, 2011

This scholar and Harvard professor became the primary caregiver for his wife after she was afflicted with a neurodegenerative disorder. More →

October 1, 2010

“You cannot understand caregiving unless you do it,” says Arthur Kleinman. “Acts of caregiving come as close to what I think religion is as I could name.” More →

October 1, 2010

“While we human beings are of inestimable value, we are not of infinite value,” writes an ethicist and professor of medicine in a new book on end-of-life care. More →

March 12, 2010

“More is not better,” according South Florida hospital CEO Brian Keely. “We know that more health care services can result in lower levels of care.” Health care costs are double the national average in Miami, where Keely says specialists use more medical resources and technology. More →

November 24, 2009

Alzheimer’s disease gets progressively worse and there is no known cure. After a certain point, should an Alzheimer’s patient be kept alive with a feeding tube? Many family members say, of course: they should do everything possible to prolong a loved one’s life. But some doctors say inserting a feeding tube is inhumane, because it can just prolong a vegetative state for years. More →

January 23, 2009