Stanford palliative care specialist creates an app to facilitate end-of-life decisions

For many of us, the topic of how we want to spend our final days rarely comes up in discussions with our family members or doctors. And a big reason why is that we think of reflecting on how we want to die as highly emotional and unpleasant.

But there are some compelling reasons to take the time to clarify what matters to you most in your waning days of life: It can reduce stress on your loved ones and help your physician provide a better quality of care.

Earlier this year, VJ PERIYAKOIL, MD, director of palliative care education and training at Stanford, launched the Stanford Letter Project, a campaign to empower all adults to take the initiative to talk to their doctor about what matters most to them at life’s end.

Recently, Periyakoil released mobile app versions of the Stanford Letter Project for both the iPhone and Android. The apps, which offer templates comprised of simple questions aimed at getting the end-of-life conversation rolling, are free and can be downloaded from the iTunes and Google Play stores. Templates are available in Spanish, English, Italian, Tagalog, Russian and Hindi.

As Periyakoil explained in a recent 1:2:1 podcast, “2.6 million Americans die every year, and very few of them get to talk to their doctor about their end-of-life wishes.” She urges every adult to tell their doctors about how they want to spend their last days; she suggests engaging in end-of-life discussions each time you reach a milestone in your life such as getting married, having a baby or being diagnosed with a chronic illness.

This item was originally published on the School of Medicine’s SCOPE blog.