Free Pamphlet: “End of Life Experiences: What to Expect”

Always speak to a healthcare provider when considering treatment options.

We are pleased to announce the publication of our newest free educational resource, End of Life Experiences: What to Expect.

This two-sided, folded pamphlet was designed with input from medical and mental health professionals for hospice, palliative care, or other settings where deaths may be expected to be used by caregivers, loved ones, clinicians, and even the dying themselves. It states:

“Though every dying process will happen in its own time and in its own way, many common, normal changes can occur in the days leading up to a death. Knowing what to expect may bring comfort to the dying and allow their loved ones, friends, and caregivers to play positive and supporting roles.”

The pamphlet describes paradoxical lucidity, terminal agitation, visions and sensed presences, vocabulary around travel, and events related to the time of death as well as grief-related phenomena that may occur after the death.

What people are saying about our End of Life Experiences (ELE) pamphlet:

“As an intensivist, I help many patients on the edge of life and death. Sometimes patients die despite our best efforts or choose to pass away of their own accord. When that happens the information here helps me facilitate that transition peacefully and gracefully for all involved.”
~ Adam Rizvi, MD, Critical care physician

“Normalizing and educating people about end of life experiences gives hope and solace to many. I am thrilled this educational resource from the Windbridge Research Center is available to those who are grieving, in the dying process, or caring for those in the dying process who may not have otherwise known about the universality of ELEs.”
~ Beth Christopherson, LCSW

“The ELE pamphlet provided me with much-needed comfort and a higher perspective during the very difficult process of losing my mother this year.”
~ Natalie D.

This pamphlet (like all our factsheets) is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC by-nc-nd) license. It can be shared as long as appropriate credit is given to the Windbridge Research Center, it is not used for commercial purposes, and it is not remixed, transformed, or built upon.

Download a printable PDF of the pamphlet here:

Download PDF