Patient empowerment in discussing end-of-life care

In Elana Gordon’s segment with NPR titled, “Hello, May I Help You Plan Your Final Months?” she reports on the work of Vital Decisions, a company that provides counseling via phone to beneficiaries of participating insurance companies in efforts to facilitate discussions about end-of-life care. Counselors often cold-call patients after attempts to reach them via postal mail have failed. During their sessions, they encourage patients to begin to consider their goals with the hope that over time the patient will feel empowered to communicate those goals with their physicians and family members. Read more here.