Tell Your Doctor How You Want to Die

The cultural conversation about dying has grown louder in recent years. Boomers who watched their parents suffer aggressive medical intervention at the end of life are taking steps to ensure they don’t get the same treatment when their time comes.

They’re sparking a movement like the one that changed labor and delivery in recent decades from a sterile hospital procedure into an event where professional photographers are welcomed into the birthing room, said Ellen Goodman, founder of the Conversation Project, a public education initiative on end-of-life care. “Dying is not just a medical experience,” Goodman said. “Dying is a human experience.”