Final Exodus
Your Life. Your Terms. Your Plan.
Final Exodus
Your Life. Your Terms. Your Plan.
Your Life. Your Terms. Your Plan.
Your Life. Your Terms. Your Plan.
“Knowledge does not make the decision for you. It gives you the understanding to make the decision your own.”
— Final Exodus
There are many Advance Directive forms available, including state-specific forms and forms developed by national organizations. Because requirements vary by state, be sure that the form you choose meets the requirements where you live.
The American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging provides information about state-specific Advance Directive forms, helping individuals locate forms and resources developed by state and local authorities.
American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provides VA Form 10-0137, VA Advance Directive: Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and Living Will, for veterans receiving VA health care.
VA Form 10-0137 — VA Advance Directive
Five Wishes, developed by the nonprofit Aging with Dignity, is an Advance Directive that addresses not only medical treatment preferences but also personal, emotional, and spiritual wishes. It is written in everyday language and is available in paper and digital versions.
Whichever form you choose, read it carefully, discuss your wishes with the person you have chosen as your health care agent, and follow the requirements for completing and signing an Advance Directive in your state.
End of Life Choices California (EOLCCA) — A nonprofit organization whose trained volunteers provide Californians with information and support as they explore and navigate their legal end-of-life options, including California’s End of Life Option Act.
EOLCCA volunteers can provide information about advance care planning, serve as one of the required witnesses to a client’s written request for Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD), and provide trained support and presence on a client’s planned day of ingestion. When requested, a trained volunteer may prepare the MAiD medications and hand them to the client, who must self-administer the medications.
All EOLCCA services are provided at no charge. To speak with a trained volunteer, call 760-636-8009.
Compassion & Choices — A national nonprofit organization providing information and resources about end-of-life planning and care, including Medical Aid in Dying where legally available. The organization also engages in education, advocacy, and legislative work related to end-of-life policy.
Hemlock Society of San Diego — A San Diego–based organization offering educational programs and public discussions about end-of-life choices and related issues. Visit its website for current programs and events.
Coalition for Compassionate Care of California — Provides education and resources related to serious illness, advance care planning, and communicating health care wishes.
Center for Practical Bioethics — Caring Conversations — The Caring Conversations® materials guide individuals and families through advance care planning. Resources include workbooks, guidance for discussing health care wishes, and forms for documenting a health care decision-maker and treatment preferences.
Academy of Aid-in-Dying Medicine — A national organization focused on clinical best practices and education related to Medical Aid in Dying. Its patient referral service helps connect people seeking MAiD care with participating clinicians where the practice is legal.
National Alliance for Care at Home — Provides information and resources related to hospice, palliative care, caregiving, and end-of-life care.
CaringInfo — Provides consumer information about hospice, palliative care, advance care planning, grief, and related topics, including information about Advance Directives.
Final Exit Network — Provides education and information concerning end-of-life autonomy and self-determined death. Its perspective and activities differ from organizations focused primarily on hospice, advance care planning, or Medical Aid in Dying under state law.
MAiD Family Support Society — Provides compassionate, lived-experience support and connection for people supporting a loved one who is considering or planning Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), as well as those grieving a loss following MAiD.
International End of Life Doula Association — Provides education and resources related to end-of-life doula care and works to increase understanding of death, dying, and grief.
Final Exodus provides these links for educational purposes. Inclusion does not constitute endorsement of every position, recommendation, service, or resource offered by the organizations listed. Information, services, and laws may change over time; consult the organization or appropriate government source for current information.
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End — Atul Gawande, M.D.
An exploration of aging, serious illness, medicine, and the importance of understanding what matters most to people as they approach the end of life.
That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour — Sunita Puri, M.D.
Puri writes from her experience in palliative medicine about serious illness, communication, suffering, and the limits of medicine.
The Best Care Possible: A Physician’s Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life — Ira Byock, M.D.
A physician’s examination of how medicine cares for people approaching death, with particular attention to palliative and hospice care and the tendency of modern medicine to continue disease-directed treatment even when priorities may be changing.
The Best Care Possible — Publisher Information
Knocking on Heaven’s Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death — Katy Butler
A personal and journalistic examination of aging, medical intervention, family caregiving, and difficult decisions near the end of life.
Medical Aid in Dying raises deeply personal, medical, ethical, and social questions. The resources below reflect different perspectives on autonomy, suffering, the role of medicine, disability, safeguards, and end-of-life choice. They are included to encourage informed reflection, not to suggest that Final Exodus endorses any particular viewpoint.
Compassion & Choices — Medical Aid in Dying
An advocacy perspective emphasizing individual autonomy, dignity, relief of suffering, and access to Medical Aid in Dying.
Compassion & Choices — Medical Aid in Dying
American Medical Association — Physician-Assisted Suicide
The AMA uses this terminology in its Code of Medical Ethics. The AMA opposes physician participation in assisted suicide, citing the physician’s role as healer and concerns about potential societal harms. Its ethics guidance also acknowledges that thoughtful people can reach different moral conclusions about the practice in good faith.
AMA Code of Medical Ethics — Physician-Assisted Suicide
The Hastings Center — Ethics and Medical Aid in Dying
A bioethics resource presenting materials that examine arguments both for and against MAiD and questions involving suffering, autonomy, professional ethics, safeguards, privacy, and vulnerable populations.
The Hastings Center — Ethics and Medical Aid in Dying
Advocacy Considerations Regarding Medical Aid in Dying for People with Nonterminal Chronic Illnesses and Disabilities — Emily M. Lund
A Rehabilitation Psychology article examining differing views within the disability community, including MAiD as an expression of autonomy and concerns that expanded access may reinforce ableism or create risks for people with disabilities.
My Mother’s Choices — New England Journal of Medicine
A physician and palliative-care researcher reflects on her mother’s request for MAiD and the tension she experiences between her perspectives as a physician and as a daughter. It brings a deeply personal dimension to questions that can otherwise remain abstract.
Advance Care Planning — National Institute on Aging
Clear, practical information about Advance Directives, choosing a health care proxy, discussing wishes with loved ones, and planning for future medical decisions. It also provides worksheets.
Advance Care Planning — National Institute on Aging
The Conversation Project — Conversation Guides
Free guides covering how to begin conversations about end-of-life wishes, choose and serve as a health care proxy, communicate with a health care team, and discuss serious illness and dementia.
The Conversation Project — Conversation Guides
MAiD in America: A Rapid Review of Medical Assistance in Dying in the United States and Its Implications for Practice for Health Care Professionals (2024)
A peer-reviewed review covering terminology, legal and regulatory issues, patient and caregiver experiences, communication, clinician experiences, and disparities in access.
The Paradox of Medical Aid in Dying — Mara Buchbinder, New England Journal of Medicine (2026)
A contemporary perspective examining policy and ethical questions surrounding Medical Aid in Dying.
The Paradox of Medical Aid in Dying — New England Journal of Medicine
Being Mortal — PBS FRONTLINE
The 54-minute documentary follows Atul Gawande as he examines how physicians communicate with people approaching the end of life and how patients and families make difficult decisions about serious illness and dying.
The Conversation Project — Videos
A collection of shorter videos about talking with loved ones, choosing a health care proxy, communicating with health care teams, dementia caregiving, and normalizing conversations about end-of-life wishes.
Medical Aid in Dying laws and requirements vary by jurisdiction and may change over time. For the most current information, consult the official state or District source where available.
Do you know of a resource that might be helpful to others? We welcome suggestions through our Contact page. Inclusion is at the discretion of Final Exodus.
Extensive recent medical research clearly indicates that with a good lifestyle you can prevent developing Alzheimer’s disease. What life style changes? (As many as you can do; the more, the better.)
This list is taken from a class on prevention given at the San Diego Community Colleges in the fall of 2022. You can get similar information from this YouTube video: Ten tips to prevent Alzheimer's, Melissa Batchelor. There are others.