Articles

• End of life articles from PubMed of the National Library of Medicine.  The articles listed here tend to be highly technical research papers, but careful searching of the articles can often uncover important and useful information.  
• Serving Patients Who May Die Soon and Their Families: The Role of Hospice and Other Services. Joanne Lynn, MD, MS.

Encyclopedic Information

• Death as described at Yahoo! encyclopedia.   

Grief

• Crises, Grief, and Healing. Tom Golden's Page

Forums

If you join one of these support groups, please mention that you found their group through Medconsumer.info.

• BeingSick. A global community of loving people who understand what its like to be sick or care for a loved one.  "We are a community of loving supportive people who understand what its like to be sick. We live with illness, injury, disability, or care for those that do. This group is a place where you are free to be yourself. Share your frustrations about being sick, friendships, family, and just about anything! We are the family who understands when no one else does! We live your life too! You are welcome to post in HTML, colors, send links, web pages, poems, inspiration, e-cards, jokes, chat in our chat room anytime! We are non-denominational, welcoming all races, ages, religions and cultures. We know how tough life is being sick, and we care. There is support for you here anytime you need us. You are not alone."  Yahoo! group. 
• DayByDay. "DayByDay, started in June 1998, was created to support the parents of children whose child died from cancer, and also to parents whose children have exhausted treatment options and are in hospice care."
• Hospice. "This mailing list is dedicated to those involved in the hospice experience: nurses, doctors, HHAs, chaplains, and most importantly, caregivers and those who are receiving care. This is a place to share your stories, unload your feelings, ask your questions and exchange your ideas on the issue of palliative care of the dying."
• Hospicecommunity · Hospice Community. "Welcome to Hospice Community. We are glad you found us. We hope we can be of some help and comfort to you.
  
  Whether you are caring for a loved one with a serious illness, have recently lost a loved one, or are yourself struggling with a critical or terminal illness, you will find friendship and support here.
  
  This is a group for patients, caregivers, and hospice professionals. It is primarily a support group for people who struggle with potentially terminal illness and for the family and friends who care for them. We believe in the hospice philosophy, which values the sanctity and quality of life and the right of every individual to live and die with dignity, in familiar surroundings, and free from pain. Our purpose is to provide support and information to caregivers, health care workers, family members, and patients dealing with life-threatening illness.
  
  This group is also a forum for discussing hospice and educating family, patients, physicians, health care workers, and the public about the wonderful benefits of hospice care."
• HospiceExecutive · Hospice Executive Forum. "Our group is dedicated to providing hospice executives and professionals responsible for managing hospice and palliative care programs with a range of professional information, opportunities for networking, results of surveys and studies, connections to other resources, and information produced by the editorial staff of hospice letter.
  
  Our goal is to provide hospice executive directors, senior care managers, nurse managers, and administrators with useful information for decision-making through a variety of means: discussion open only to professionals, postings, periodic distribution of a special e-mail news on this field, and participation in surveys on a range of insightful subjects..."
• Hospicedoc · Hospicedoc's Hospice Group. "By for and about Hospice and Palliative Care."
• Medconsumerinfo.  "Medconsumer.info is your starting point for searching the Web for medical information. This forum exists for you to discuss, ask questions, and answer questions about any aspect of health, healthcare industry, and any aspect of being a patient. Please take whatever advice you receive through this forum to your doctor before changing or initiating any medically-related behavior."  Yahoo! group.
• Palliativecareissues · palliativecare. "This site provides the forum for information sharing for coordinators and palliative care service providers."
  
• PBTAngels · PBT Parents of Angels. "This group has been established to provide support for parents who are facing end of life issues with a child who has a brain tumor and to provide extended support for parents of angels who graduated to Heaven after battling a brain tumor.
  
  We are here to listen and to share our collective experiences while traversing one of the most difficult parts of the pediatric brain tumor journey. You are not alone as you face the most difficult loss. Together we will celebrate our children's lives. And we celebrate our steps towards healing."
• Perinatalhospice · Perinatal hospice. "For caregivers and others interested in providing perinatal hospice/palliative care support for families who receive a terminal prenatal diagnosis."
  
• Sfeolnet. "The San Francisco End of Life Network is a coalition of organizations and individuals working to improve end of life care. The group grew out of the Bill Moyers series "On Our Own Terms" as an effort to both support those working in the field and to raise community awareness on the need for quality end of life care."
• Musicmedicine · Therapeutic Musicians. "A chat list for all who use their music for therapeutic purposes, especially in hospitals and hospices."

Hospices

• Hospice Frequently Asked Questions an article by Geoff Lister
• Hospice Hope an article by Geoff Lister

ListServs

• Deliverance - The right to Voluntary Euthanasia.  "Australian news media items on the campaign to institute Voluntary Euthanasia legislation nationally and in the states."  Web site:  http://www.euthanasia.net/.
• Eye of the Storm (In Honor of Papa and Mike) (Eye of the Storm).  "Purpose: We all loose loved ones physically to death. Recently, I have noticed that there are many who have lost a "mate" to death....In a way, this loss was like losing at least half of themselves....My website tells of my experiences as an individual who has known some wonderful people personally and also known many wonderful people from my hospice R.N. work. I believe our sorrow is our joy in another reflection. We pass through the "eye of the storm" and we are never the same. Would love to talk with others who have known grief or are in the middle of passing through "the eye of the storm"...None of us are alone..and by sharing our loved ones "essence" we grow stronger and stronger....Please join me if this interests you. MTVO(Thanks in Creek). :-)" 
• Grief & Loss Issues.  "A list for those experiencing or inquiring about the death, dying & bereavement process..."
• GriefLossRecovery.com (GLR).  "GriefLossRecovery.com offers emotional support and friendship and provides a safe haven for bereaved persons to share their grief. This is a safe place for people to mourn--emotionally, physically and spiritually."  Website http://www.grieflossrecovery.com.

Merchandise

• Medical Supplies and Equipment from Amazon.com.

Newsletters

• Caregiving Newsletter.  "Denise Brown operates The Center for Family Caregivers and owns and operates Tad Publishing Co., both based in Park Ridge, Ill. Through her organizations, Denise helps persons who care for an aging relative. Through Tad Publishing Co., Denise publishes Caregiving newsletter; authors books and manual for family caregivers and health care professionals; writes a monthly advice column for Chicagoland's Senior News; and maintains the Caregiving.com web site."

New York State Resources

• NYS review of Monroe County nursing homes.

Online articles

• "The Final Ascent."  By Erma Mae Perkins RN, CHPN Rochester, NY.
• "Talk About Death. When a loved one is dying, how do you find the right words?"  By Jane Adams WebMD Medical News.

Online Communities

• Growth House, Inc. ""The Internet's leading online community for end of life care."

Online discussion groups

• Finding Our Way: Living and Dying in America.
• Grief & Loss Support - MSN Survivors Community
• Yahoo! Online discussion groups.  Go the discussion group home page and then type in key words such as "grieving" or "mourning" and a list of Yahoo! online discussion groups will be displayed.

Organizations

• Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL). 
• Compassion and Support.  ""Individuals facing serious life-threatening illness and approaching death deserve to be treated with dignity, respect and compassion and to receive care that is focused on the individual's goals for care. Families need and deserve to receive support. To achieve their goals, individuals need to plan ahead, know their choices, make sound decisions and share their wishes with their loved ones and health care professionals. This Web site aims to educate and empower patients, families, health care and other professionals to accomplish this goal." 
• The Compassionate Friends.  "Grief support after the death of a child. 

The mission of The Compassionate Friends is to assist families toward the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child of any age and to provide information to help others be supportive.

The Compassionate Friends is a national nonprofit, self-help support organization that offers friendship and understanding to bereaved parents, grandparents and siblings. There is no religious affiliation and there are no membership dues or fees.

The secret of TCF's success is simple: As seasoned grievers reach out to the newly bereaved, energy that has been directed inward begins to flow outward and both are helped to heal."

• Hospice Foundation of America.  "HFA is a nonprofit organization that promotes hospice care and works to educate professionals and the families they serve in issues relating to caregiving, terminal illness, loss and bereavement."  What is a Hospice?
• National Association of Home Care (NAHC).  New York State Hospice Association Board of Directors. 
• National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.  "The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization is the largest nonprofit membership organization representing hospice and palliative care programs and professionals in the United States. The organization is committed to improving end of life care and expanding access to hospice care with the goal of profoundly enhancing quality of life for people dying in America and their loved ones.
  
  Considered to be the model for quality, compassionate care at the end of life, hospice care involves a team-oriented approach of expert medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support expressly tailored to the patient's wishes. Emotional and spiritual support also is extended to the family and loved ones. Generally, this care is provided in the patient's home or in a home-like setting operated by a hospice program. Medicare, private health insurance, and Medicaid in most states cover hospice care for patients who meet certain criteria."
• Partnership for Caring:  America's Voices for the Dying.  "Partnership for Caring: America's Voices for the Dying is a national nonprofit organization that partners individuals and organizations in a powerful collaboration to improve how people die in our society. Among other services, Partnership for Caring operates the only national crisis and informational hotline dealing with end-of-life issues and provides state-specific living wills and medical powers of attorney."
• Well Spouse Foundation.  "Illness and accident attack without warning and can happen to anyone. No two people are living in the same situation and no two illnesses exact the same toll. Alzheimer's is different from MS, heart disease is different from Parkinson's, stroke is different from accident. But all well spouses face similar problems of anger, guilt, fear, isolation, grief, and financial threat whether they are full-time caregivers or whether their partners have only moderately disabling illnesses.
  
  Well Spouse is a national, not for profit membership organization which gives support to wives, husbands, and partners of the chronically ill and/or disabled. Well Spouse support groups meet monthly. Here, our members can share their thoughts and feelings openly with others facing similar circumstances in a supportive, non-judgmental environment. WS support groups are also an excellent source for information on a wide-range of practical issues facing spousal caregivers. Well Spouse support groups exist or are being formed in many areas of the country. To contact a support group near you or to learn how to start a group, please go to our 'SUPPORT GROUPS' page."

Photographs

• End of Life photographs from Google Images.

Radio Programs

• The End of Life: Exploring Death in America.  from National Public Radio.  Includes transcripts, resources, bibliography, readings, tell your own story, and feedback.  The Web site contains audio files of the program segments.

Television series

• On Our Own Terms.  Moyers on Dying.  "What challenges emerge from balancing medical intervention with care and comfort at the end of life?  How can you maintain meaning throughout your life?  Learn about solutions for finding a better death and explore the options for humane care for the dying."

Videos

• End of Life videos from YouTube.com.

Web Sites

• A Guide to Medical Information and Support on the Internet.  "The purpose of this guide is to provide the reader with the knowledge and resources for utilizing the different areas of the internet to access medical information and support groups. If you have any suggestions or questions, or need help locating information."
• After Death Communication Research Foundation (ADCRF).  This organization studies after death communication (ADC).  ADC is defined as "A spontaneous experience of communication with a deceased friend or family member."
• Beyond Indigo.  "Our hope is to support, educate and ease some of the fear connected with all forms of grief. We are also adding new tools to support and enhance the care provided to someone who has experienced a traumatic loss."
• Finding Our Way: Living and Dying in America. "More and more Americans are looking for better ways to face the emotional and practical realities of serious illness and dying. They are seeking ways to balance high-tech medical interventions with comfort and compassionate care, and to achieve a sense of dignity and meaning at the end of life. Finding Our Way: Living With Dying in America presents the real-life experiences of Americans who have courageously struggled to find their personal answers to some of life's toughest questions. Their intimate stories take us into the hospital and nursing home, through the struggles of caregiving, talking about serious illness, medical decision making, arranging a funeral, and living with loss. We hear the conversations that helped them find their way through these challenging situations."
• Hospice Care: The Common Pathway.
• Sutter Health System.  Evening Star Library. 

  "The Sutter Resource Library offers an extensive collection of books, videotapes, and audiotapes of interest to anyone facing end-of-life issues.
  
  Subjects in the Evening Star Library include death and dying, grieving, bereavement, recovery, spirituality, and the pragmatic aspects of leaving life. The information in this collection will enhance the possibility of living completely, and further the possibility of love and relatedness throughout life, including the end of life.
  
  This collection was made possible through the inspiration and generous donation of Michael H. Plumer, M.D. It is located within the Sutter Resource Library at 2800 L Street, Sacramento, in the Sutter Cancer Center building.
  
  The books, videotapes, and audiotapes in this special collection are available to patients, loved ones, caregivers, and other interested people. The public is welcome to come in and browse the collection. Sutter Resource Library members may check out the materials."

• Survivors of Suicide. "The Survivors Division of AAS is dedicated to understanding the issues of survivors of suicide
  and incorporating these in suicide prevention efforts." Survivors Division Chair: Mitzi Crawford Spears