Disease Trajectory Education for Patients and Families

This chapter provides sample language that can be used to provide education to patients and families about disease and its expected progression. The chapter details the five patterns of terminal decline followed by patients in the United States at the end of life, including sudden death, catastrophic event, cancer, organ failure, and frailty/dementia. It provides sample language for discussing the most common diagnoses patients follow within each of these trajectories, including coma, stroke, heart failure, lung failure, liver failure, kidney failure, cancer, age-related decline, and dementia. The language in this chapter is intended as a starting point for clinicians to develop their own patient-friendly language when helping patients and families understand what to expect as patients approach the end of life.