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Theres a quiet revolution happening in the way we die. More than 1.5 million Americans a year die in hospice carenearly 44 percent of all deathsand a vast industry has sprung up to meet the growing demand. Once viewed as a New Age indulgence, hospice is now a 14 billion business and one of the most successful segments in health care. Changing the Way We Die, by award-winning journalists Fran Smith and Sheila Himmel, is the first book to take a broad, penetrating look at the hospice landscape. Changing the Way We Die is a vital resource for anyone who wants to be prepared to face lifes most challenging and universal event. You will learn Hospice use is soaring, yet most people come too late to get the full benefits. With the age tsunami, it becomes even more critical for families and patients to choose end-of-life care wisely.



About the Author

Fran Smith

Fran Smith is a writer, editor and writing coach. Changing the Way We Die grew out of conversations with her longtime friend and colleague, Sheila Himmel, about the deaths of their fathers. Sheila's had hospice care; Fran's did not. Those different experiences launched the authors on a three-year journey to learn about the choices we all will face and about the possibilities that hospice opens up to live life fully until the end. Fran and Sheila write the Changing the Way We Die blog at Psychology Today.

Fran's work has appeared in hundreds of newspapers and dozens of magazines, including O, The Oprah Magazine, Redbook, Salon, Good Housekeeping, Health and Prevention. She has won numerous awards for medical reporting, health care investigations and feature writing and shared in a Pulitzer Prize as a reporter for the San Jose Mercury News. She is a frequent speaker on storytelling, health writing and effective communications. She is graduate of Cornell University and the University of California at Berkeley and was a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University. She lives north of New York City.



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