About IANDS

IANDS’ mission is to build global understanding of near-death and near-death-like experiences through research, education, and support.

Our goals are:

To encourage thoughtful exploration of all facets of near-death and near-death-like experiences;
To provide reliable information about near-death and near-death-like experiences to experiencers, caregivers, researchers, educators, and the public;
To serve as a contact point and community for people with particular interest in near-death and near-death-like experiences.

IANDS’ purpose is to promote responsible, multi-disciplinary exploration or near-death and near-death-like experiences, their effects on people’s lives, and their implications for beliefs about life, death, and human purpose. IANDS does not subscribe to any particular interpretation of the near-death experience.

IANDS publishes two quarterly periodicals, the scholarly Journal of Near-Death Studies and the newsletter Vital Signs, in addition to other informational and research materials. It sponsors a national conference in North America annually and other conferences occasionally.

IANDS has evolved from an organization serving mainly researchers to a much more inclusive one. Today IANDS serves six distinct classes of people:

Researchers:: People who are interested in doing research on near-death experiences and/or near-death-like experiences.
Health Care Professionals:: People who care for experiencers’ physical and/or mental health.
Experiencers:: People who have had a near-death or near-death-like experience.
People close to experiencers: Many of our services for experiencers are also applicable to people who know them well. We also have specialized materials for those close to experiencers.
Educators:: People who teach about near-death and near-death-like experiences.
Interested other people:: People with special needs or other interests related to these experiences, including those with terminal illness, those in grief, and the general public.

IANDS Programs and Activities

IANDS provides reliable information to caregivers, experiencers, and the public by publication of the quarterly newsletter Vital Signs; maintaining a Speaker's Bureau; working with media around the world; sponsoring an annual North American conference, continuing education programs, and other programs; and producing a wide variety of educational materials.
IANDS encourages interest in research and professional applications through publication of the quarterly Journal of Near-Death Studies, management of a program of small grants to encourage scholarly research, creation of an NDE Research Fund, sponsorship of an annual conference, and publication of an indexed bibliography to the periodical literature on near-death and near-death like experiences.
IANDS facilitates support. Near-death and similar experiences can raise deeply troubling questions for many experiencers. Aftereffects of the NDE can be disturbing to the experiencers as well as to their families, friends, and caregivers. To meet these special needs, support and interest groups have developed across North America and in countries elsewhere in the world. The Board of Directors of IANDS has periodic informal public gatherings at various locations.