Creating Alignment On Improving End Of Life Care: Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, Founder & President of End Well

In the United States, nearly 70% of people say they want to die at home, yet the majority still die in medical settings, often after receiving care that may not match their goals and values. Closing that gap between preference and reality is at the heart of the work being done by End Well, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming how we think about, plan for, and experience the end of life. "The gap isn't about people wanting the wrong things. It's that our culture and our incentives aren't aligned with helping those wishes actually happen at the end of life,” says Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, End Well’s founder and president. 

As Dr. Ungerleider explains to Raise the Line host Michael Carrese, End Well sponsors an annual symposium and year-round activities to bring together clinicians, patients, caregivers, and innovators to improve that alignment. Key steps include earlier integration of palliative care, allowing providers time for listening and goal setting with patients, and normalizing conversations about what matters most to people.

This compelling conversation on reframing end of life care also covers how to bring wonder, joy, and hope into end-of-life conversations, and End Well’s work to change how death is portrayed in the media.

Mentioned in this episode:
End Well

If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast