In this week’s TIME cover story, “The Long Goodbye” (available to subscribers here), journalist Joe Klein writes about managing the care of his ailing parents, both of whom suffered from dementia, until their deaths last winter eight weeks apart. He spent “five months as a death panel for both my mother and my father,” Klein writes…Palliative or hospice care. For people needing end-of-life care, palliative and hospice care are two options that should be considered. Palliative care typically occurs at hospitals and is for patients with advanced disease, but without time limits in terms of life expectancy…“Having an early conversation about palliative and hospice care makes the transition easy rather than abrupt,” says Dr. Gregory Hanson, a specialist in geriatric and palliative medicine at the Mayo Clinic. “Physicians are trying to become more proactive and sensitive about having these conversations, but it always helps if the patients are willing to talk about what they want too.”

TIME by Alexandra Sifferlin

Tags: dementia, Dr. Gregory Hanson, hospice care, palliative care, Patient Care, TIME