Validating Patients Dreams & Visions at End of Life with Dr. Christopher Kerr MD, PhD

Dr. Christopher Kerr will share his published research that describes and validates patient’s dreams and visions at the end of life. Dr. Kerr will explore how these near universal experiences often provide comfort and meaning as well as insight into the life led and death anticipated. He will also review research that explores the potential for end of life experiences to provide opportunity for post-traumatic growth, and discuss the impact of these experiences on the bereaved. The presentation includes videos of patients and families describing the meaningfulness of these powerful end of life experiences.

Dr. Christopher Kerr MD PhD is the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Executive Officer for Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo.  Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Dr. Kerr earned his MD and PhD in Neurobiology.  His background in research has evolved from bench science towards the human experience of illness as witnessed from the bedside, specifically patient’s dreams and visions at the end of life. Although medically ignored, these near universal experiences often provide great comfort and meaning. To date, the research team at Hospice Buffalo has published multiple studies on this topic and documented over 1,500 end-of-life events, many of which are videotaped. This work was the subject of his TEDx Buffalo Talk which has been viewed over 2.7 million times. It has been the subject of reports on The BBC, in The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Scientific American Mind, Huffington Post, The Washington Post, and Psychology Today. It will also be featured in an upcoming Netflix production and a documentary film to be released in 2020. It has also gathered international attention.