In this post, I'd like to explore the necessity, challenges and goals of having end-of-life conversations once the diagnosis of a life-limiting condition is confirmed.

You have introduced the idea of having a family conversation, or a series of conversations, about end-of-life wishes and goals. Mom and Dad are on board, the adult children want to know more, and everyone is ready to take the next steps to ensure wishes are followed. Now what?

An end-of-life discussion is not a conversation likely to arise spontaneously on its own. Whether you are an aging parent or a concerned adult child, you must make the first move. Seize any opportunity to begin the conversation.

Sadly, informed consent and shared decision-making, the twin pillars of patient-centered health care, aren't the rock-solid structures we would hope for. That's the lesson of a new study in the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine.

My father does not want to die and I understand that. That said, I have watched as over the past three years the quality of his life has been steadily reduce to something approaching zero.

Uncle Ed was what you would call a man's man. A Korean War Veteran, he was nothing if not a planner. Yet at 84, we could not help but wonder who should make the decisions?

For heaven's sake (if you believe in heaven, and even if you don't), do talk to your loved ones about dying. Whisper about it if you have to. It can't hear you. Need help? Here are three easy steps to get you started.

Diseases and conditions that once proved quickly fatal no longer are. Instead, individuals and their families are increasingly likely to find themselves mired in a protracted process that only begins with a diagnosis.

This new grief is different. For one thing, it includes the loved one with the diagnosis. It also draws in the entire family into a prolonged crisis that some of our interviewees aptly described as "learning to live with death."

The spread of infections in hospitals has reached epidemic proportions. In this followup, I want to share some of the resources that were shared with me in emails from readers.

New York City is a rich cultural, ethnic and religious tapestry, and those in my field must understand a complex set of traditions and beliefs before introducing conversations about death and dying.

In our culture, it seems more acceptable to "rage against the dying of the light" and fight to the bitter end than to take stock of what your life has been about and to be at peace with your coming death.

While everyone might sincerely believe that they all have the patient's best interest in mind, they may have diametrically opposed views about what that would look like.

You have a right to your own point of view and your own beliefs and preferences regarding the end of your life's journey.

To make our choices known, so as to be able to inform the decisions that we authorize our loved ones to make for us, requires a conversation of the type that requires bravery and foresight.

Both individually and collectively, we are paying an enormous emotional and financial price for being silenced by our society's taboo against talking about death and dying.

Overwhelm, discomfort and superstition -- not very good reasons for failing to execute such critically important documents. Here are the top 5 excuses for not putting one's affairs in order.