"Do It Your Way": A Demonstration Project on End-of-Life Care for Persons with Serious Mental Illness

Over the last decade, America's health care systems have been challenged to incorporate advance care planning and end-of-life care into their service delivery systems to assure that persons with terminal illnesses receive compassionate individualized care. Despite the surge in new research and knowledge, some groups remain understudied and underserved, such as persons with serious mental illness. "Do It Your Way," a demonstration project, was developed and implemented in a Massachusetts public mental health system to improve access to advance care planning and end-of-life care among persons with serious mental illness. This report provides an overview of the project, including its rationale, setting, needs assessment, objectives, initiatives, preliminary evaluation, impact, and conclusions.