Dr. Joanne Lynn has been devoted to improving how we live in the end of life since becoming one of the first US hospice physicians in 1978 and has since then worked in nursing homes, home care, office practice, public health, public information, advocacy, Medicare administration, and quality improvement. A much-honored physician and researcher, she is now focused on quality improvement and public policy, still searching for the ways in which people living with eventually fatal illness can find comfort and meaningfulness, in a service delivery system that the society can afford. Janice Lynch Schuster has worked on projects to improve care at the end of life since the 1994 death of her… grandmother. She has worked with Dr. Lynn on other books in this field, including The Common Sense Guide to Improving Palliative Care and Improving Care for the End of Life: A Sourcebook for Clinicians and Health Care Managers , both from Oxford University Press. Her essays have appeared in The Washington Post and in the Motherlode blog of The New York Times . She is currently a senior advisor on an Altarum/WHO/Diana Fund project to explore the application of decent care values to palliative care services in three regions around the world. Dr. Joan Harrold has cared for patients and families facing serious illnesses for two decades. As a hospice and palliative care physician, she has helped people make medical decisions, manage pain and symptoms, and plan care. A leader in end of life care, Dr. Harrold teaches medical professional and lay audiences and serves local, state, and national organizations while working as medical director of Hospice of Lancaster County. In addition to her professional work, Dr. Harrold has cared for her own family members and friends at end of life, giving her a genuine appreciation for what readers need to know to feel more confident and better prepared.