www.comfortdying.com (now retitled Aging Well and Comfort in Dying) is a comprehensive, practical gateway site focused on illness, addiction, death, grief, and positive aging. Curated by author and editor Pat McNees, the site originally launched as an online supplement to her acclaimed anthology, Dying: A Book of Comfort. Over time, it expanded massively into a deeply detailed informational index covering health care navigation, medicine, and emotional well-being.
Core Areas of Focus
The website functions as an extensive alphabetical resource directory grouped into several overarching themes:
• End-of-Life Planning:
Practical guidance on advance directives, living wills, estate planning, document storage, and understanding options for life-sustaining treatment.
• Grief & Bereavement:
Resources on the stages of grief, navigating the loss of a parent, child, or pet, and directories for online support groups and forums.
• Healthcare Navigation & Insurance:
Deep-dives into decoding medical bills, evaluating hospital quality ratings, and explaining the differences between Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and "Medicare for All".
• Aging & Caregiving:
Articles on navigating aging solo, senior housing options (assisted living, co-housing, the village movement), preventing elder fraud, and managing caregiver burnout.
• Chronic Illnesses & Medical Mysteries:
A massive directory of information covering specific conditions, rare/invisible diseases, and resources for patients dealing with misdiagnoses.
• Funerals & Tributes:
Guides on planning family-directed or green funerals, funeral music selections, and the art of obituary and eulogy writing.
📖 The Foundation: Dying: A Book of Comfort
The site highly promotes McNees's anthology, a collection of short, life-affirming passages from various writers, thinkers, and religious voices. The book is specifically structured with very brief entries to make it accessible to those who are currently suffering from intense grief or severe illness and cannot concentrate on lengthy texts.
INDEX for DYING: A BOOK OF COMFORT website