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End-of-Life University

End-of-Life University

Karen Wyatt MD

Dr. Karen Wyatt, hospice physician and author of "7 Lessons for Living from the Dying," interviews experts on all aspects of the end-of-life, including: caring for the dying, funeral and burial practices, planning for the end-of-life, conscious dying, grief and loss, caregiver support, afterlife, death and the arts, and community initiatives to improve end-of-life care. Access show notes at www.eolupodcast.com
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Top 10 End-of-Life University Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best End-of-Life University episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to End-of-Life University for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite End-of-Life University episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Learn how Kevin Hines survived jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge to become a global speaker on suicide, mental illness, and finding hope in life.

My guest Kevin Hines is a storyteller, best-selling author, global public speaker, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. In the year 2000 Kevin attempted suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge and miraculously survived the injuries from his fall. He has dedicated his life to telling his story and helping others survive pain with true resilience. He is the author of Cracked Not Broken: Surviving and Thriving After a Suicide Attempt and co-author of The 3rd Rail: [In My Mania I Became]. He has also produced a documentary called Suicide: The Ripple Effect. Learn more about his work at his website:

www.kevinhinesstory.com

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • Kevin’s story
  • Why suicide is a taboo subject in our society
  • Why it’s important to talk about suicide
  • Overcoming our fears of discussing suicide
  • What to say to someone who might be contemplating suicide
  • Information about the Crisis Text Line
  • The NotOK App – a digital panic button
  • Tips for coping with the guilt that follows the suicide death of a loved one

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes! Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my newest supporter Richard Widmark Jr.! Your contributions make all the difference!

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Learn about shared death experiences and how they can lessen the fear of death and help with grief.

My guest William Peters is the founder of the Shared Crossing Project and is recognized by many as the world’s leading authority on the shared death experience (SDE). He discusses SDEs and what he has learned through his research, including how these experiences benefit those who have them. He is the author of the book At Heaven’s Door: What Shared Journeys to the Afterlife Teach About Dying Well and Living Better, which will be published by Simon & Schuster in early 2022 and we talk about it in this conversation. Learn more about William’s work at his website:

www.sharedcrossing.com

Order the book here

OR Find an independent bookseller near you

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • What is a shared death experience
  • What happens during a shared death experience
  • Who is likely to have an SDE
  • What is the Spectrum of End-of-Life Experiences
  • How do SDEs benefit those who have them
  • Are SDEs becoming more accepted in our society
  • The ongoing research being conducted by the Shared Crossing Project
  • Advice for those who may have experienced an SDE without understanding it
  • How to increase the likelihood of having a shared death experience
  • How to submit your story to the Shared Crossing Project if you feel you have had an SDE

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my new patron Jennifer Blalock! Your contributions make all the difference.

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Learn how this man’s experience with grief led him to start a Death Café in Japan and become a death doula and Willow EOL educator.

My guest Masatoshi Shoji is a licensed acupuncturist, health communicator and medical translator in Sendai Japan. He started Death Café Sendai in his hometown in 2015 and since then has trained as a certified grief counselor, death doula and Willow EOL Educator. He shares why he first became interested in working with grief and death and his experiences with Death Café in Japan.

Visit his website

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • Masatoshi’s experience with grief as a young widower in Japan
  • What inspired him to create Death Café Sendai
  • How he organized and promoted his first Death Café
  • Resources that Masatoshi is using to further his own death education
  • The gradual growth in popularity of Death Café in Japan
  • The obstacles to talking about death in his community, including the use of implicit language
  • How Masatoshi felt socially marginalized as a young widower in his community
  • His goal to bring acupuncture to hospice and end-of-life care

Links mentioned in this episode:

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If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my newest patron Merlin Murdock, and to those who have bought me a coffee and made a donation through Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference.

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Learn about a beautiful new book that explores how death teaches us, through many varied experiences of loss, how to truly live.

My guest Barbara Becker is an interfaith minister and a strategic communications consultant specializing in strengthening the voice of the non-profit community, working with the United Nations, Human Rights First, the Ms. Foundation for Women, and the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. She is also the author of the book Heartwood: The Art of Living with the End in Mind and she shares the important lessons she has learned from death and loss throughout her life. Learn more about her work at the website:

www.barbarabecker.com

Get the book here

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • What inspired Barbara to become an interfaith minister and to volunteer in hospice
  • How her work in hospice informed her own feelings about death
  • What is “heartwood” and why it is a fitting title for the book
  • How Barbara turned to her own book for guidance when she faced a health crisis of her own
  • The one question we should ask ourselves to live a more purposeful life
  • What we can learn about coping with death and grief from religious traditions outside of our own
  • Advice to help family caregivers cope with caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s
  • How to cope with the first holiday season while grieving the death of a loved one

Links mentioned in this episode:

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Learn about “non-ordinary” end-of-life experiences like deathbed visions and why they are a gift to patients and their loved ones.

This week I’m welcoming back my recurring guest Barbara Karnes RN, hospice nurse and international speaker and educator. She is also the author of the “little blue hospice book” Gone from My Sight and the recent book for caregivers, By Your Side. Barbara and I discuss common phenomena that occur during the last days of life that can be upsetting to families if they don’t understand what’s happening. As usual we share lots of stories and experiences along with our own approach to handling these situations. Learn more about Barbara’s work at her website:

www.bkbooks.com

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • The frequency of unexplained phenomena at the end of life
  • What it’s like when a patient experiences a deathbed vision
  • The symbolic language that patients may use prior to death
  • What is terminal lucidity and how to help loved ones understand what is happening
  • How to respond to patients and caregivers when deathbed phenomena occur
  • Why it’s important to validate and normalize these experiences
  • Why we should avoid interjecting our own beliefs and interpretations about these events
  • How to help loved ones find the gift in these experiences rather than be afraid of them

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my latest patron Stefanie Elkins!...

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End-of-Life University - Ep. 318  How to Use Stories to Teach About Death and Dying
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09/27/21 • 48 min

Learn how telling stories can make you a better and more effective teacher about end-of-life issues.

In this solo episode I share some of the research around the power of stories to teach and to change behavior, which is why we should all be using stories when we are working with people around end-of-life issues. You can harness the “magic” of stories to motivate your students to take action and to develop greater empathy for others. Find out how to become a better storyteller in your work, no matter what role you play.

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • The neuroscience of stories and how they work to change our thinking
  • Why stories are “empathy machines”
  • Why everyone should use stories in their work, but especially in work that involves death and dying
  • How stories help with healing
    • Teach about the past
    • Increase empathy
    • Make sense of life
    • Reveal what is hidden
    • Engage the imagination
    • Enhance memory
  • Characteristics of a good story
  • Tools needed to become a great storyteller
  • Types of teaching stories
    • Personal
    • Witnessed
    • Borrowed
    • Nature
    • Historical
    • Myth and legend

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu! Your contributions make all the difference.

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Learn how this hospice nurse and end-of-life doula is making a difference by sharing the tools she has learned.

My guest Gabrielle Elise Jimenez is a hospice nurse, end-of-life doula and conscious dying educator. She is also the author of three books intended to teach others how to provide care to their own dying loved ones. She talks about the tools she feels are most important for caregivers to learn and she also shares information about her Facebook page that exploded with new members when people started posting about their grief. Learn more about her books and courses at her website:

www.thehospiceheart.net

Get her books here

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • How Gabby ended up becoming a hospice nurse and an end-of-life doula
  • The tools needed to care for a dying loved one at home
  • How to help families with grief in hospice
  • How Gabby tapped into the huge need for grief support that exists in our world right now
  • Advice for healthcare professionals who need to recognize their own grief
  • How to stay in balance while doing emotionally challenging work
  • The impact of COVID on hospice workers
  • 3 things everyone should know about death and dying
  • How to live our best lives by recognizing that we will die one day

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu! Your contributions make all the difference.

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End-of-Life University - Ep. 331  Looking Ahead to 2022

Ep. 331 Looking Ahead to 2022

End-of-Life University

play

12/27/21 • 27 min

Learn how the innovations of the past year are going to create more positive change in 2022!

In this final episode of 2021 I’ll share with you some of the innovations of 2021 that are going to be driving further change in the coming year. I’ll remind you of some of the conversations from this past year that provide potential solutions to the issues we are currently facing around end-of-life care. And we’ll recognize that amidst all the pain and sorrow of this pandemic year there has been much to be grateful and joyful about! (This episode is overflowing with information so keep a pen and paper handy to make note of interviews you may want to hear!)

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • There has been an increased interest in advance care planning due to the pandemic. Check out Episode 283 about Mideo – video technology for EOL planning
  • There is still great need for EOL education everywhere in our society – Episode 300
  • Technology is disrupting every aspect of EOL care, including grief – Episode 313 about the Grief Refuge App
  • Palliative Care is expanding and being embraced more and more – Episode 325
  • Help needed for burnout
  • The importance of storytelling
  • Psilocybin therapy at EOL – Episode 295
  • NDEs and other phenomena are becoming more accepted – Episode 296
  • Disruption of the funeral industryEpisode 291
    • Virtual funerals and memorials – Episode 294
    • Funeral planning guide –
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Learn about a beautiful, artistic journal that explores the caregiver’s journey through dying and grief.

My guest this week is Jennifer O’Brien, author of the creative, gorgeous journal: The Hospice Doctor’s Widow. She discusses her journey as she cared for her husband who was a hospice and palliative care physician diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. We talk about grief and loss and caregiving in this intimate conversation. Learn more at her website:

www.hospicedrswidow.com

Get the book here

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • Why this book is ideal for caregivers and people dealing with grief
  • How Jennifer created the art for the book
  • How Jennifer incorporated her husband’s wisdom into the book
  • What is “Precious Time” and how did that inform the way she and Bob spent his last days of life together
  • Navigating anticipatory grief for caregivers
  • Why the patient and the caregiver are going through two different processes
  • Why the survivors’ journey can be more difficult than the patient’s journey
  • What is the Triad of Certainty
  • Advice for caregivers
  • The At Peace Toolkit – A Guide to Being at Peace with End of Life

‘Precious Time’ is when you say what you need to say and don’t say what you will later regret.”

from The Hospice Doctor’s Widow by Jennifer O’Brien

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my new patrons G. Thackrey and Mary Susan Graham! Your contributions make all the difference.

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End-of-Life University - Ep. 455  Briefly Perfectly Human with Alua Arthur
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05/13/24 • 55 min

Learn about a powerful NY Times bestselling memoir that teaches how acknowledging our mortality helps us live a more authentic life.

My guest Alua Arthur is the founder of Going With Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization. She is a frequent guest on television and radio and has been featured on CBS’s The Doctors and in Disney’s Limitless docu-series with Chris Hemsworth. Alua is the author of the recently published NY Times bestseller Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End. She shares her story of how she was inspired to learn more about death and teach others how to live fully in the face of our mortality. Learn more at Alua’s website:

goingwithgrace.com

Get the book here

YouTube Channel

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • The value of authenticity in memoir-writing
  • How life prepares us for the work we are meant to do
  • How a single conversation shifted the path of Alua’s life
  • What inspired Alua to get training as a death doula
  • Creating better boundaries as we do this work with people at the end of life
  • Compassion allows us to honor another person’s journey without trying to control it
  • How death doula work can be financially viable
  • Why education of the public is an essential foundation for the work we are doing
  • How the “death-space” is welcoming to diverse people with a wide variety of skills

Links mentioned in this episode:

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FAQ

How many episodes does End-of-Life University have?

End-of-Life University currently has 333 episodes available.

What topics does End-of-Life University cover?

The podcast is about Society & Culture, Podcasts and Science.

What is the most popular episode on End-of-Life University?

The episode title 'Ep. 260 How to be Resilient in Difficult Times with Suzanne B. O’Brien RN' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on End-of-Life University?

The average episode length on End-of-Life University is 56 minutes.

How often are episodes of End-of-Life University released?

Episodes of End-of-Life University are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of End-of-Life University?

The first episode of End-of-Life University was released on Feb 25, 2019.

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