Finish Strong - Putting Your Priorities First at Life’s End

From the President Emerita/Senior of Compassion & Choices, THE guide to achieving the positive end-of-life experience you want and deserve.It’s hard to talk about death in America. But even though the topic has been taboo, life’s end is an eventual reality. So why not shape it to our values? FINISH STRONG is for those of us who want an end-of-life experience to match the life we’ve enjoyed. We know we should prepare, but are unsure how to think and talk about it, how to live true to our values and priorities, and how to make our wishes stick.The usual advice about advance directives and conversations is important but woefully inadequate. This book describes concrete action in the here and now to help live our best lives to the end. FINISH STRONG will guide you through:• Finding a partner-doctor to honor your values and beliefs with humanity, deference and candor.• Identifying what matters most as vigor wanes and stating your priorities.• Having meaningful conversations with doctors and family about expectations and wishes.• Staying off the “overtreatment conveyor belt.”• Knowing when “slow medicine” is the best option to maintain quality of life.• Navigating home hospice, the ultimate healing experience. Written with candor and clarity by a nurse, physician assistant and attorney who became a leading advocate for end-of-life options, this book can help you FINISH STRONG.CHAPTERS:An InvitationTalking About Death Won't Kill You (But It Could Improve Your Life)Overtreatment and Diminishing ReturnsLet Me Die Like a DoctorHope & HeroismHospice: The Healing OptionThe Secret of Slow MedicineEscaping DementiaInside a Growing AdvocacyPeople Taking ControlSpace for the SacredIt's Harder Than You Think (But You Can Do It)Appendix: Tools to Take Charge

Over more than five decades, Barbara Coombs Lee worked in healthcare as a clinician, policymaker and advocate. Her indelible bedside experiences forged a deep respect for individual values and beliefs and eventually led her to a career in law and health policy. For the last 25 years, she has advocated for initiatives that allow individuals a full range of options and much greater agency in their healthcare decisions.

Barbara's work in public policy culminated in her roles as CEO and now President of Compassion & Choices, the nation's oldest and largest organization working to empower everyone to chart their end-of-life journey. Thousands of personal experiences and the teachings of scholars and thought leaders around the globe inform her perspective. She is a seasoned writer, speaker and commentator.

Barbara's passion for transforming the end-of-life experience by informing and empowering patients infuses her new book FINISH STRONG. She calls for all Americans to join a patient-driven movement to dismantle the institutional and cultural barriers to living well to the very end.

She lives in Oregon.