Talking About and Preparing for Death Among Older Adults

Experts on end-of-life issues recommend that individuals make preparations – living will, health care proxy, last will and testament, and memorial service – for their eventual death (Bischoff, Sudore, Miao, Boscardin, & Smith, 2013). While these experts further encourage a broader process of advance care planning, which includes conversations with loved ones, many individuals are reticent to engage in such end-of-life conversations (Brinkman-Stoppelenburg, Rietjens, & Heide, 2014). The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between older adults’ comfort having end-of-life discussions with family members, death preparation, and comfort with their end-of-life plans. Community-dwelling older adults (N = 354) participated in an interview survey about end-of-life issues. Comfort with having end-of-life discussions with family was associated with greater death preparation and comfort with end-of-life plans. Death preparation mediated the relationship between comfort with end-of-life discussions and comfort with end-of-life plans. Overall, the results are consistent with the notion that individuals who are more comfortable discussing their end-of-life plans with loved ones engage in greater death preparation and thereby feel a greater sense of contentment with their plans for death.