Here are some great outside sources of information:
Funerals and Green Burials
Green Burial Council
The place to learn more about green burial and how to find certified cemetery stewards, funeral professionals, and funerary product sellers who share the commitment to create more sustainable after-death options for you, your community, and the planet.
Green Burial Information (Ohio)
So, if you’re looking for ways to cut down your carbon footprint, here’s everything you need to know about green burial in Ohio, including certified cemeteries, providers, and products.
National Home Funeral Alliance
The mission of the NHFA is to educate and encourage families and communities to care for their own dead. They are a 501(c)3 non-profit, all-volunteer organization that is the leading body of home after-death care support and education in the US. Members come from all 50 states, five provinces, and seven countries. Find home funeral guides, green burial spaces in the U.S. and Canada, information about home funerals, and much more.
Funeral Consumers Alliance
This website is packed full of good information. Their Four-Step Funeral Planning guide is a good starting point
if you’ve never planned a funeral before and are not sure where to begin. This website will give great tips information and show you how you can save money.
Burial and Cremation Laws by State
Each state has laws affecting what happens to a body after death. For example, most states have rules about embalming, burial or cremation, scattering ashes, and how to get a death certificate. Here are answers to common questions about post-death matters in each state.
Palliative and Hospice Care
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
The nation’s largest membership organization for providers and professionals who care for people affected by serious and life-limiting illnesses. Founded in 1978, its broad community of members includes local hospice and palliative care providers, networks serving large regions of the United States, and individual professionals. Packed with great information for patients, families, and providers.
Medical/Advanced Directive Info.
Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) program for New York residents. Other states see POLST:
Portable Medical Orders (POLST) communicates your wishes as medical orders. A POLST form tells all health care providers during a medical emergency what you want:
- “Take me to the hospital” or “I want to stay here”
- “Yes, attempt CPR” or “No, don’t attempt CPR”
- “These are the medical treatments I want”
- “This is the care plan I want followed”
A Place to Start
The Conversation Project® is a public engagement initiative with a goal that is both simple and transformative: to help everyone talk about their wishes for care through the end of life, so those wishes can be understood and respected. It’s time to share the way we want to live through the end of our lives. And it’s time to communicate about the kind of care we want and don’t want for ourselves. We believe that the place for this to begin is at the kitchen table—not in the intensive care unit—with the people who matter most to us before it’s too late. Print off their conversation starters for FREE. Great resource!
Five Wishes
It’s more than just a document. Five Wishes is a complete approach to discussing and documenting your care and comfort choices. It’s about connecting families, communicating with healthcare providers, and showing your community what it means to care for one another.
CaringBridge
Update those you want to with information, photos, and updates on your health and your journey. CaringBridge is your free online tool for sharing health updates. It is an easy and ad-free way to communicate health news to family and friends—all in one place.
Leaving a Legacy
Forever Missed
This is a GREAT resource where you can create an online memorial to collect and share precious memories. The basic memorial service is FREE and provides some customization, a limited selection of music, and some photographs. For a nominal charge, you can also upgrade.
RecordMeNow
This app lets you create a video legacy for yourself, your family, or your loved ones. With question-prompts and video recording is also great for life review. It is private, FREE, and non-denominational.
StoryCorps
StoryCorps was started in Grand Central Terminal in 2003. Since then, more than half a million people have recorded their stories. Their mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world. We do this to remind one another of our shared humanity, to strengthen and build the connections between people, to teach the value of listening, and to weave into the fabric of our culture the understanding that everyone’s story matters.