Resources
Please find resources to help you learn and understand end-of-life options available.
Information Regarding Advance Directives
Questions and Answers About Health Care Directives - MN Dept. of Health
Advance Directives / Minnesota Board on Aging (MBA)
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/consumer/handbooks/probate/HealtCareDir.pdf
Educational Materials - Light The Legacy (Honoring Choices)
Minnesota Health Care Directive Planning Toolkit | UMN Extension
POLST and Advance Care Planning (ACP) - POLST
POLST | Minnesota Medical Association
The Conversation Project - Have You Had The Conversation?
The Conversation Project - National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) — April 16
Wakes, Funerals, Disposition
NATIONAL HOME FUNERAL ALLIANCE - Home
Aquamation or Resomation: A ‘Green’ Alternative to the traditional Funeral - US Funerals Online
Directory of Aquamation Providers in the U.S. - US Funerals Online
Green Burial Directory - US Funerals Online
In Minnesota, you have several options for green burial:
Natural Burial: This method involves placing bodies directly into the earth in biodegradable materials without embalming or burial vaults, promoting ecological health.
Minnesota Green Burial Association: This organization provides resources and support for green burial practices in the state.
Providers: Some notable green burial providers include Prairie Oaks Memorial Eco Gardens in Inver Grove Heights, which is one of the first dedicated green cemeteries in Minnesota.
Certified Grounds: You can find GBC certified green burial grounds through the Green Burial Council, ensuring they meet specific ecological standards.
For more detailed information, you can visit the respective websites of these organizations and providers.
Urns for Ashes | Tree Burial & Cremation Urns — The Living Urn
Let Your Love Grow | Memorial Plants
St. Croix Valley Memorial Forest Better Place Forests
Legacy Projects
24 Questions You Should Ask Your Parents, While You Can | HuffPost Life
Genealogy: 150 questions to ask family members about their lives – Deseret News
Caregiver Resources
FREE Resource Center for Family Caregivers | Doulagivers Institute - Doulagivers
Free Resource Page - Doulagivers
Find an End-of-Life Doula or Doula House
End of Life Doula Directory - Doulagivers
Books
The Good Death
By Suzanne O’Brien
Summary: In The Good Death, Suzanne O’Brien, RN, founder and CEO of Doulagivers Institute, offers a compassionate and clear guide to helping loved ones through the profound transition of end of life. This book provides the tools, understanding, and emotional support needed to navigate this sacred time with grace, empathy, and peace
Cruising through Caregiving: Reducing the stress of Caring for Your Loved One
By Jennifer L. FitzPatrick, MSW, CSP
https://www.greenleafbookgroup.com/titles/cruising-through-caregiving
Summary: Advice and resources from FitzPatrick and twenty-four other professionals show how to give your loved one the best quality of life possible without sacrificing your own life, health, career, relationships, or financial stability.
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
By Atul Gawande
Summary: Being Mortal is a book by Atul Gawande that explores how people can better live with age-related frailty, serious illness, and approaching death. Gawande calls for a change in the way medical professionals treat patients approaching the end of life.
Holding Space: On Loving, Dying, and Letting Go
By Amy Wright Glenn
Summary: A look at the spiritual, emotional, and philosophical implications of end-of-life care by an elegant and literary writer who is a hospital chaplain.
Love and Fear: Stories from a Hospice Chaplain
By Renshin Bunce
https://www.facebook.com/people/Love-and-Fear-Stories-from-a-hospice-chaplain/100064169104572/
Summary: The author is a Zen Buddhist Priest who works as a hospice chaplain. Her book is a series of stories about people she has met as she learns that every death is different and there are no universal rules or easy answers in hospice care. These stories show what's possible, allowing the reader to learn along with her as she continues to ask, What am I supposed to do? What is help? What is it to be human?
Greening Death: Reclaiming Burial Practices and Restoring Our Tie to the Earth
By Suzanne Kelly
https://www.amazon.com/Greening-Death-Reclaiming-Practices-Restoring/dp/144224156X
Summary: We once disposed of our dead in earth-friendly ways—no chemicals, biodegradable containers, dust to dust. But over the last 150 years death care has become a toxic, polluting, and alienating industry in the United States.
The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments
By Hadley Vlahos, R.N.
The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments by Hadley Vlahos | Goodreads
Summary: In The In-Between, Vlahos recounts the most impactful experiences she’s had with the people she’s worked with—from the woman who never once questioned her faith until she was close to death, to the older man seeing visions of his late daughter, to the young patient who laments that she spent too much of her short life worrying about what others thought of her—while also sharing her own fascinating journey.
Nothing to Fear: Demystifying Death to Live More Fully
By Julie McFadden, R.N.
Nothing to Fear: Demystifying Death to Live More Fully by Julie McFadden | Goodreads
Summary: Julie McFadden, a hospice nurse and TikTok star, shares her insights and advice on dying, death, and hospice in this New York Times bestseller. Learn about the biological details, medical interventions, deathbed phenomena, and grieving process from a compassionate expert.