Wow! How? End of life

What if I told you that a key health care metric grew in a positive direction, from 24% to 31% in 15 years?

What if I then told you that a big part of the change was driven by people inspired by personal experiences, not clinical training?

Most Americans tell survey researchers they don’t want to die in a hospital setting but fewer tell their loved ones. They often don’t have language to describe what they want, so they stay silent.  This mismatch is reflected in national vital statistics – 24% of deaths occurred at home in 2003. Alexandra Drane and Matthew Holt had witnessed the heartbreak of medicalized death firsthand and decided to take action.

Drane and three colleagues – Sarah Stephens-Winnay, Leigh Calabrese-Eck, and Arden O’Connor – dug into the evidence and designed a deceptively simple set of questions, contained on one slide, to help spark a new national conversation about end of life wishes.

Engage with Grace launched in 2008 to fanfare and attention, including from media luminary Ellen Goodman.

The Engage with Grace team created a “blog rally” to coincide with Thanksgiving, when most people gather with their families. Print out the One Slide, bloggers urged, and start the conversation with your loved ones about what they want when the time comes. In 2010, Goodman launched The Conversation Project, further expanding the reach of these vital questions.

It’s a signature move by Alexandra Drane to spot an emerging trend and make it a data-driven crusade for change. She is both a Solver and a Champion, bringing everyone along on her quest to live our best days until our last.

Culture change is difficult to measure, but in 2017, 31% of deaths in the U.S. occurred at home, up from 24% in 2003, and deaths at hospice facilities rose from 0.2% in 2003 to 8% in 2017.

If you have not yet discussed your end-of-life wishes with your loved ones, consider doing so today.