The end of life has been transformed in the recent decades by advances in medical technology. The challenges these changes have brought encompass medical decision making, advance care planning, racial and ethnic differences and health disparities, cultural and international similarities and differences, family dynamics, the development of palliative care, new service delivery models, and many others. These are among the theoretically richest, most complex, and broadly interdisciplinary issues in gerontology. Research to understand them has the potential to inform the design of more effective interventions and to affect policy and practice.

We invite investigators to contribute original research and review articles that will stimulate efforts to understand and improve the end-of-life experience for patients and families. Cultural and international differences in these issues are of particular interest. Research based on quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods is welcome.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Decision making by patients, families, and/or healthcare providers
• Advance care planning
• Cultural/international differences in end-of-care experiences, outcomes, practices, and policy
• Racial/ethnic differences in care and care preferences
• Health disparities in end-of-life care
• Qualitative or mixed-method studies of the end-of-life experience for patients, families, and/or healthcare providers
• Family conflict and dynamics
• Innovative approaches to improving the end-of-life experience for patients and families
• Approaches to clinical evaluation and outcome measurement

This list is not exhaustive, and other submissions fitting in with our main theme are welcome. We are also interested in receiving reviews covering any of the topics listed above.

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jar/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: