Patient description: An 89-year-old man was brought to the emergency department by his wife and son after six months of progressive changes in cognition and personality. He began to have poor memory, difficulty expressing himself, and exhibited unusual behaviors, such as pouring milk onto the table and undressing immediately after getting dressed. He is unable to dress, bathe, use the toilet, or walk independently. On examination the patient's temperature was 36.5C (97.7F), the heart rate 61 bpm in an irregular rhythm, the blood pressure 144/78 mm Hg, and the respiratory rate 18 bpm. The patient was alert and oriented to self and city but not year. He frequently interrupted the examiner. He repeatedly reached out to grab things in front of him, including the examiner's tie and face. He could not spell the word "world" backward, could not follow commands involving multiple steps and was unable to perform simple calculations. His speech was fluent, but he often used similar-sounding word substitutions. He could immediately recall three out of three words but recalled none of them after 5 minutes. Examination of the cranial nerves revealed clinically significant paratonic rigidity. Myoclonic jerks were seen in the arms, with symmetrically brisk reflexes. The reflexes in

Clinical trial eligibility criteria: eligible ages (years): 18.0-999.0,  Critical Illness Chronic Disease Terminal Care Palliative Care Communication Advance Care Planning Neoplasm Metastasis Lung Neoplasms Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive Heart Failure End Stage Liver Disease Kidney Failure, Chronic Eligible primary clinicians will all clinicians who provide ongoing primary or specialty care to eligible patient populations. This will primary care physicians (family medicine and internal medicine), oncologists, pulmonologists, cardiologists, gastroenterologists, nephrologists, neurologists, hepatologists, and geriatricians. Primary clinicians may also nurse practitioners and physician assistants playing a "primary role" with eligible patients. A "primary role" denotes any clinician for whom having a discussion about end-of-life care with eligible patients would be indicated Eligible interprofessional team members will nurses, social workers and other clinicians who are part of an enrolled primary clinician's clinic team Eligible patients will be those under the care of a participating clinician who are 18 years of age or older, have had 2 or more visits with the primary clinician in the last 18 months, and meet diagnostic criteria. Diagnostic 1) metastatic cancer or inoperable lung cancer; 2) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with FEV1 values <35% predicted or oxygen dependence or restrictive lung disease with a TLC < 50% predicted; 3) New York Heart Association Class III or IV heart failure; 4) Child's Class C cirrhosis or MELD score of >17; 5) dialysis-dependent renal failure and either diabetes or a serum albumin of < 2.5; or, 6) older than 75 years with at least one life-limiting chronic illness. Additional PAH w. 6MWD <250m, restrictive lung disease (IPF, ILD) w/ TLC <50%, and cystic fibrosis with FEV1 < 30%. Eligible patients will also be English-speaking and have no significant dementia or cognitive impairment that would limit his/her ability to complete questionnaires Eligible family members will be identified by the patient, with the criterion that the patient would want the family member involved in medical decision-making for the patient if he/she was not able. For the purpose of this study, "family member" is not confined to legal next-of-kin or immediate family member. Any family member, friend, or caregiver is eligible who is English-speaking and has no dementia or delirium limiting his/her ability to complete questionnaires  Reasons for for all subject groups legal or risk management concerns; and physical or mental limitations preventing ability to complete research activities