Ars Moriendi Project — For Practitioners
Guides & Resources
for End-of-Life Professionals
Death doulas, chaplains, hospice social workers, and advance care planning counselors carry one of the most essential — and most under-resourced — roles in elder care. This initiative exists to support that work.
The Ars Moriendi Project is developing a suite of practitioner-focused resources drawn from 40 years of chaplaincy, published guides to advance care planning, and direct community organizing with elders and caregivers across California.
The Initiative
What We Are Building
With support from the philanthropic community, the Ars Moriendi Project will expand its existing published materials into a full practitioner resource library — and pair those resources with direct community organizing to reach the elders and families who need them most.
Professional Editions of the My Dying Wishes Series
Adapted versions of our three published advance care planning guides, formatted for use with clients — with facilitation notes, discussion prompts, and session frameworks for one-on-one and group settings.
Advance Care Planning Facilitation Curriculum
A structured training curriculum for death doulas, chaplains, and social workers on how to guide families through the full spectrum of end-of-life decisions — from directives to legacy and after-death wishes.
Community Organizing & Outreach
Direct community engagement with underserved elder populations across California — partnering with faith communities, senior centers, and caregiver networks to bring planning conversations to those who need them most.
Practitioner Resource Library
A curated collection of forms, state-specific directives, credentialing body links, and recommended continuing education for end-of-life care professionals — freely accessible from this site.
Existing Resources
Published Guides — Available Now
The following books are already in print and available on Amazon. Professional editions, adapted for practitioner use with clients, are in development.
Comprehensive Guide
My Dying Wishes: How I Want to Be Treated as I Go and After I’m Gone
The complete guide to advance care planning — covering medical decision-making, end-of-life preferences, and after-death wishes in plain language for individuals and families.
View on Amazon →Companion Workbook
My Dying Wishes: A Companion Workbook
Step-by-step worksheets for documenting healthcare proxy designations, treatment preferences, and personal values — designed to be completed alongside the main guide or with a practitioner.
View on Amazon →Survivor Information Guide
After I’m Gone: Essential Information for My Family
A single-source document for survivors — covering accounts, passwords, document locations, beneficiaries, and final wishes — so families are not left searching after a death.
View on Amazon →Why This Work Matters
The default death for too many Americans — particularly low-income elders, elders of color, and those without family advocates — is in an ICU, connected to machines, in pain, and often alone. Not because they wanted it that way, but because no one helped them plan.
End-of-life practitioners are the front line of that gap. Death doulas, hospice chaplains, and advance care planning counselors do the relational work that no form can do alone. But they are chronically under-supported with training materials, facilitation tools, and community infrastructure.
This initiative, grounded in 40 years of chaplaincy with elderly populations and a commitment to elder justice, is designed to change that — beginning in California, where the need is acute and the practitioner community is growing.
Connect With This Initiative
If you are a death doula, chaplain, social worker, or end-of-life care practitioner — or a foundation interested in supporting this work — we welcome the conversation. Professional resources are in active development. Contact us to be notified when they are available, to share your needs as a practitioner, or to explore partnership.
Get in Touch