When hospice physician Christopher Kerr first started moonlighting at Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo in 1999, hearing about the powerful dreams and visions that dying patients often had made him uneasy. But it didn't take long for Kerr to realize that these inner experiences could be profoundly therapeutic — not just for the patients, but for their families, too. "They were undeniable," says Kerr, now CEO of Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo. "They couldn't be ignored, and they had worth."
To better understand these end-of-life experiences, or ELEs, Kerr has interviewed more than 1,400 dying patients. The stories he collected at their bedsides are featured in his 2020 book, Death Is But a Dream. They also informed seven published studies, tackling topics like post-traumatic growth and the ways that ELEs can help bereaved loved ones process their loss. In the days, weeks and even months leading to their deaths, Kerr ...
