Finding Hope and Meaning at Life’s End with Dr. Christopher Kerr What can the experiences of people nearing the end of life teach us about love, loss, and living? In this episode of Speaking of Grief, bereavement specialists Jamie Boshears and Simone Brock welcome Dr. Christopher Kerr, hospice physician, researcher, and author of Death Is But a Dream: Finding Hope and Meaning at Life’s End. Dr. Kerr is the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Executive Officer at Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Chris earned his MD as well as a PhD in Neurobiology. Outside of direct patient care, Chris’ focus is in the area of patient advocacy. His passion is palliative care and a belief that such care should be throughout the continuum of illness. Under Dr. Kerr’s leadership, Hospice Buffalo now serves 1,100 patients a day, including a pediatric palliative care program that serves 130 children per day. Dr. Kerr’s background in research has evolved from bench science towards the human experience of illness as witnessed from the bedside, specifically patient’s dreams and visions at the end of life. Although medically ignored, these near universal experiences often provide comfort and meaning, as well as insight into the life led and the death anticipated. To date, the research team at Hospice Buffalo has published multiple studies on this topic and documented over 1,500 end-of-life events, many of which are videotaped. This work was the subject of his TEDx Buffalo Talk which has been viewed over 4.6 million times. It has been the subject of reports on The BBC, in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic Monthly, Scientific American Mind, Huffington Post, and Psychology Today. It is also featured in a recent docu-series on Netflix called Surviving Death and a PBS World Channel Documentary called Death Is but A Dream. Dr. Kerr’s work has also been published in a book (Death Is but A Dream) by Penguin Random House which was released in 2020 in multiple languages. You can learn more about Dr Kerr and the work of his team at www.drchristopherkerr.com. Through personal stories and insights from his research, Dr. Kerr explores the dreams and visions experienced by people approaching death—and the meaning, connection, and comfort these experiences can bring to patients and their loved ones. Later in the episode, Communications Director David Edwards shares the story behind Arkansas Hospice’s transition to LifeTouch Health and how its expanded services carry forward the organization’s mission of touching lives. Whether you are grieving, caring for someone you love, or seeking a deeper understanding of the end-of-life experience, this conversation offers thoughtful perspectives and a reminder that you are not alone. Learn more about LifeTouch Health and grief support at LifeTouchHealth.org. Healthcare is changing, and Arkansas Hospice is changing, too. Impacting more lives, in more ways. Since 1992, the Arkansas Hospice team has grown into Arkansas's largest nonprofit provider of hospice care. Now, we've expanded into personal care, primary care, and palliative care. All with a new name: LifeTouch Health. Because when patients and families need more from us, we become more from you. Arkansas Hospice is becoming LifeTouch Health. Same team, same nonprofit organization. We hope you find the content of this podcast meaningful. You can also watch our video podcast, Touching Lives, on YouTube.
