Resources
COVID Advance Directive Resources
Sample Covid-19 Advance Directive
Covid-19 specific Advance Healthcare Directive Addendum – Provided by Hemlock Society San Diego
Acacia Memorial Park and Funeral Home – At Acacia Memorial Park and Funeral Home, we understand the importance of creating opportunities for people to gather and remember. It’s through sharing our memories and stories with our friends and family that we find strength. Our professional staff is here to assist you in creating unique expressions for your loved one as you gather and remember.
Debra Jarvis and her new Podcast, called, The Final Say.
Dying is not as bad as you think’ | BBC Ideas (video 4 min) – It’s time to break the taboo that exists around death, argues palliative care doctor and author Kathryn Mannix.
End of Life Document Checklist: A Complete Guide for Families – this guide to understanding the documents we should all have ready before we die. From a living will to DNRs and power of attorney documentation, this guide walks you through what you need to know to simplify the process of preparing for this part of life.
End of Life Washington – End of Life Washington is a statewide organization that supports people preparing for their final days. We advocate for the right to a peaceful death.
Evergreen Health Hospice and Palliative Care – Hospice care helps patients live as fully as possible until the end of life and the hospice team helps families prepare for the death of a loved one. Most hospice patients are able to stay in their homes, in familiar surroundings with their family, friends, pets and comfortable routine. Our hospice team makes this possible by providing expert pain and symptom management, as well as emotional and spiritual support. Hospice care is also available at our home-like Gene & Irene Wockner Hospice Center, adjacent to the Evergreen campus.
Final Roadmap – Final Roadmap is a secure, comprehensive online guide and toolkit for all end of life issues. It encourages and helps people to consider, document and communicate instructions and wishes. The resource helps prevent emotional and financial hardship for loved ones in stressful times.
Foss Home and Village – Having served the community since 1929, Foss has built an excellent reputation for quality care and innovative services. Located in north Seattle’s Broadview neighborhood, Foss is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. We celebrate a diverse community, welcome individual differences and honor self expression.
Green Burial Council – Inspiring and advocating for environmentally sustainable end-of-life care through research, education, and certification. Headquartered in Santa Fe, N.M, GBC says, “A lot of people find solace in returning to the earth naturally.”
Greenwood Senior Center – The Greenwood Senior Center is a program of the Phinney Neighborhood Association, a nonprofit community organization whose mission is to build community by providing programs, services and activities aimed at connecting neighbors and fostering civic involvement in our community. GSC has been serving the Greenwood community since 1974. They provide a variety of programs for adults in the areas of fitness, the arts, technology, social opportunities and social services including a daily hot lunch program.
Grief Dialogues — Elizabeth Coplan, a dramatist and writer charters a course in the stages of death brought to the stage in individual stories. “In a compassionate world, death should be celebrated the same we celebrate a birth,” she says.
Informed Final Choices – A wealth of information about end-of-life choices, plus details about the open-air cremation option available in Crestone, Colorado.
LegalTemplates – Estate Planning in the Age of COVID-19
The article explores:
- The state of the US coronavirus outbreak in relation to mortality rates and estate planning
- Evidence of increased website traffic and overall interest in estate planning documents
- Why you should consider end-of-life planning during this global pandemic
Mesothelioma Justice Network is dedicated to improving the overall quality of life for individuals diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases. Our pages are medically reviewed and verified by certified oncologists and hematologists, and provide the most current and detailed information about the asbestos industry and its health impacts.
North East Seattle Together – NEST is a 501(c)3 non-profit grass-roots community in Northeast Seattle. By providing a strong support network through volunteers and trusted business referrals, older residents can stay in their homes, and stay engaged in the neighborhoods they love for as long as possible. The NEST idea is based on a national model called the “virtual village model.” Currently there are about 120 virtual villages actively serving across the United States and many more in the works.
Northaven Retirement Living – Since 1972, Northaven, a non-profit resident community in north Seattle, has been dedicated to serving the older adults in our community by providing affordable housing and compassionate care in a healthful, life-giving environment.
Patient on 7th Day of VSED – Kristina talks for 8.5 minutes on November 23, 2015, about her decision to use VSED as “a pretty beautiful way of going.”
People’s Memorial Association -People’s Memorial Association still fulfills the aim of the forward-thinking people who founded it more than 70 years ago: to provide simple yet dignified cremation or burial options and to ensure that one’s final journey is not the most expensive ride one takes. America’s oldest and largest funeral consumer organization, having enrolled over 190,000 members since its inception. No longer exclusively a cremation society, the association offers a full range of services. It has remained a vocal advocate of funeral reform.
Personal Safety Nets – Our mission is to spread the news that interdependence and community are stronger than isolated independence. We accomplish this by teaching skills and offering guidance on creative ways to fulfill our fundamental human need to build and maintain strong networks of support and creativity in our personal, community, and work places.
RehabSpot.com – RehabSpot covers common coping mechanisms, how grief causes addiction, and how to get help if you or a loved one is suffering from substance abuse.
Seattle First Baptist Church – Seattle First Baptist is a church community that seeks to follow the way of Jesus Christ, to be a people of God and to love and care for our neighbors. Seattle First Baptist is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and values traditional historic Baptist principles such as Soul Freedom — the right of each person to interpret the Bible and other teachings for her or himself, the Separation of Church and State and the Autonomy of the congregation. As a church they value their communal times of worship, music and education together, and they encourage individuals to discover and walk their spiritual path in solitude and in community, in small groups and large, and in individual spiritual direction.
Seattle Cremations and Burials – Cascade Memorial provides a modest and comfortable environment to plan and organize simple yet meaningful memorials for those you love.
Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking Ted Talk: Not Here By Choice – Phyllis Schacter’s story about her husband who decided to VSED (voluntary stopping eating and drinking) so he did not have to live into the late stages of Alzheimer’s. Learn more about Phyllis and VSED.
Washington State Health Advocacy Association – The Washington State Health Advocacy Association (WASHAA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting health advocacy in Washington State, empowering patients and improving healthcare outcomes.
Films
Death Makes Life Possible – Death Makes Life Possible follows cultural anthropologist and scientist Marilyn Schlitz, Ph.D. as she explores the mysteries of life and death from a variety of perspectives and world traditions. The film looks at how popular culture deals with the ever-present fear many have about our own mortality. Interviews with mental health experts, cultural leaders, and scientists explore the meaning of death and how we can learn to live without fear. The interviews and evidence presented are interwoven with personal stories of people facing their own death as well as those who report encounters beyond death. The narrative is illustrated with vivid imagery.
How to Die In Oregon – In 1994, Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. As a result, any individual whom two physicians diagnose as having less than six months to live can lawfully request a fatal dose of barbiturate to end his or her life. Since 1994, more than 500 Oregonians have taken their mortality into their own hands. In How to Die in Oregon, filmmaker Peter Richardson gently enters the lives of the terminally ill as they consider whether – and when – to end their lives by lethal overdose. Richardson examines both sides of this complex, emotionally charged issue. What emerges is a life-affirming, staggeringly powerful portrait of what it means to die with dignity.
A Will For the Woods – What if our last act could be a gift to the planet? Determined that his final resting place will benefit the earth, musician, psychiatrist, and folk dancer Clark Wang prepares for his own green burial while battling lymphoma. The spirited Clark and his partner Jane, boldly facing his mortality, embrace the planning of a spiritually meaningful funeral and join with a compassionate local cemetarian to use green burial to save a North Carolina woods from being clear-cut. With poignancy and unexpected humor, A Will for the Woods portrays the last days of a multifaceted advocate – and one community’s role in the genesis of a revolutionary movement. As the film follows Clark’s dream of leaving a legacy in harmony with timeless cycles, environmentalism takes on a profound intimacy.
Links to Relevant Articles
How to Talk About Dying (Ellen Goodman, New York Times)
My Right To Die: Assisted Suicide, My Family, and Me (Mother Jones Magazine)
A Comprehensive Newsletter about the Dying and Grieving Process
How to Let Go When a Loved One is Dying (PBS)
How to Set Up an ICE Contact on Your Android Smartphone
Green Burial Resources
A Will For The Woods – A documentary about Green Burial
Suiting Dennis: A Family Story of Green Funeral
The Meadows Natural Burial Ground, In Whatcom County