"We're all just walking each other home"
Ram Dass
What's an
End of Life Doula?
End of Life Doulas provide specialist support, including practical, emotional, social, and spiritual support, to individuals and families facing end of life. This includes for the terminally ill and the elderly.
We are trained to advocate for the dying, to help implement their dying wishes, and reduce the panic and fear that often accompanies death.
Family Support
End of Life Doulas can provide a middle ground between family members, medical teams, and the dying individual.
Often navigating end of life for or with a dying loved one can be incredibly upsetting and challenging for family members. End of Life Doulas can support difficult conversations and decisions, break down medical jargon, and hold space for grief and anticipatory grief.
End of Life Settings
Where a person wishes to die, and is able to die, can sometimes be the hardest topic to establish and facilitate.
From hospital settings, to hospices, care homes, and private homes, End of Life Doulas can attempt to identify the wishes of the dying, support those wishes being facilitated, or reduce distress if those wishes cannot be honoured for medical or practical reasons.
Coping with grief
As end of life approaches, loved ones can experience anticipatory grief as the dying person changes physically and cognitively, often sleeping more frequently, and becoming less responsive. Grief can engulf a family during this time, and a dying individual may be grieving their own end of life.
Tenderly and compassionately, End of Life Doulas can hold space for the pain and loss everyone is experiencing during this time by being present and engaged.