What's an End-of-Life Doula?
What does an end of life doula do, exactly?
A doula offers non medical support and companionship, tailored to an individual or family’s needs. Some things a doula may offer include:
- Providing companionship to the individual and their loved ones.
- Life review - engaging a person in reviewing their life and creating a narrative that balances their current health or illness with their past experiences, accomplishments, and contributions.
- Reminiscence support - focus on recalling past positive events and accomplishments. This can be particularly helpful for people with dementia, as it creates opportunities for positive social interaction.
- Offering suggestions for interventions that can increase comfort and quality of life.
- Vigil planning - thinking about what the final stage of dying would look like in terms of comfort and specific wishes, and planning accordingly.
- Providing assistance in completing advance directives and support in thinking through future decisions for interventions.
- Completing legacy projects - working with the person to create a project that is a meaningful reflection of their values, memories, and personality.
- Support in addressing unresolved issues or relationships.
- Support in end of life planning.
- Assistance and support in writing a eulogy or obituary.
- Assistance in coordinating visitors and offers of help from friends and family.
- Facilitating communication between medical and non medical end of life support teams.
- Supporting and facilitating communication between family members and the individual nearing the end of life.
- Support in decluttering and making decisions about gifting or donating items or belongings.