Hospice and End of Life
Disclaimer: These resources are regularly reviewed to ensure that links still work correctly and the resources listed continue to be helpful to our visitors. If you find that a link isn't working or information is incorrect or if you'd like to have your own organization listed here, please email thedirectory@lls.org.
Because we want to be sure that our visitors find the most relevant resources, we've listed these organizations in order of relevancy from most specifically relevant to most generally relevant to the topic of this page.
2-1-1
Population served: Everyone in the United States (check the website for availability in your area)
2-1-1 is the telephone number of a call center that offers information and provides referrals to health and human services for everyday needs and in times of crisis. Services vary from community to community.
Examples of service referrals include:
- Basic human need resources: food banks, clothing, shelters, rent assistance and utility assistance
- Physical and mental health resources: medical information lines, crisis intervention services, counseling, drug and alcohol intervention
- Employment support: unemployment benefits, financial assistance, job training, transportation assistance and education programs
- Support for older Americans and persons with disabilities: home healthcare, adult daycare, congregate meals, Meals on Wheels, respite care, transportation and homemaker services
- Support for children, youth and families: childcare, family resource centers, summer camps and recreation programs, mentoring, tutoring and protective services
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO)
Contact: (800) 658-8898 (English) or (877) 646-6460 (Spanish)
Population served: Patients and caregivers in the United States
NHPCO is a membership organization devoted to promoting access to hospice and palliative care and to maintaining quality care for persons facing the end of life and their families.
- Provides a call center
- Offers a provider search to locate member hospice and palliative care programs
- Provides free materials about end-of-life care including hospice information, advance directives (with link to state-specific forms), caregiving, grief and workplace issues
Hospice Foundation of America (HFA)
Contact: (800) 854-3402
Population served: Patients and caregivers in the United States and Canada
HFA provides leadership in the development and application of hospice and its philosophy of care with the goal of enhancing the healthcare system and the role of hospice within it.
- Offers a search engine to locate a hospice program
- Provides hospice, end-of-life and grief information including articles, select reading list and links to other organizations
- Offers Hospice and Caregiving blog
- Provides Caregivers Corner with tips and links to articles and organizations
Caring Connections
Contact: (800) 658-8898 (English) or (877) 658-8896 (Spanish)
Population served: People who are making end-of-life care decisions and arrangements in the United States
Caring Connections, a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, is a national consumer and community engagement initiative to improve care at the end of life.
- Offers a call center to answer questions regarding end-of-life issues and provide information on community services
- Provides free resources and publications to help people make decisions about end-of-life care and services before a crisis (including state-specific advance directives)
American Cancer Society (ACS)
Contact: (800) 227-2345
Population served: Cancer patients and caregivers in the United States
ACS provides information about diseases, financial support, support groups, lodging and medical equipment. ACS has local chapters throughout the United States to provide assistance within the community.
- Provides general information about hospice care including coverage, finding care and questions to ask
- Offers publications informing about end of life
- Provides information about advance directives
- Provides links to other organizations for additional resources
Children's Hospice International (CHI)
Contact: (800) 242-4453
Population served: Children needing hospice care worldwide
CHI was founded to promote hospice support through pediatric care facilities, encourage the inclusion of children in existing and developing hospice, palliative and home care programs and includes hospice perspectives in all areas of pediatric care, education and the public arena.
- Provides a searchable database of hospice programs worldwide
- Provides resources including information about hospice care, hospice versus palliative care, talking to children about end of life and standards of children's hospice care
- Provides publications devoted to home care, palliative pain and symptom management, development of hospice care services and others - only publications produced by CHI are free online
International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC)
Contact: (866) 374-2472
Population served: Patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals worldwide, with a focus on developing countries
The mission is to collaborate and improve the quality of life of patients with life-threatening conditions and their families, by advancing hospice and palliative care programs, education, research and favorable policies.
- Provides a listing of hospice related books
- Provides a monthly newsletter
- Provides a global directory of palliative care providers/services/organizations
- Offers a link to IAHPC Manual of Palliative Care; links to publications
- Offers language translation services to meet needs of patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals
- Membership to the organization through a donation
Memories for Surviving Kids, Inc. (MFSK)
Contact: (512) 789-8608
Population served: Children who have lost a parent in the United States
The MFSK mission is to encourage friends and family of deceased parents to write letters for the children.
- Provides free kits to help inform friends and family about writing letters
- Offers online information on what to include and how to present the letters
National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA)
Contact: (800) 228-6332
Population served: Caregivers, patients and the public who are interested in funeral information in the United States
NFDA advocates across all facets of funeral service, is dedicated to ethical standards and helps members provide meaningful service to families.
- Provides a call center with information on planning or preplanning a funeral, funeral types, types of tributes, etc.
- Offers a listing of state associations and help finding a NFDA funeral home
- Provides grief resources on the national and local levels
- Provides a consumer bill of rights
- Provides free brochures and listing of books (for a fee) relating to funerals/death
- Offers links to additional organizations on grief-related information and end-of-life issues
ARCH National Respite Coalition
Contact: (919) 490-5577
Population served: Patients, their families and caregivers in the United States
The mission is to secure quality, accessible, planned and crisis respite services in order to strengthen and stabilize families and enhance child and adult safety. It works to achieve these goals by promoting respite in policy and programs at the national, state and local levels.
- Provides a Web-based tool that has a partial listing of state-by-state respite resources
