Death Doula

Death Doula:

• Empowers, Educates, and Encourages

people and their families to be involved in making decisions.

• Guides and supports the dying and their families in the dying process.
  • Help them plan for the last days of life.
  • Support them: emotionally, spiritually, and physically.
  • Help families emotionally after the death.

Emphasis on:              

1. Meaning
   1. Legacy work
   1. Planning
   1. Attention to the sacred nature of dying.                         
   1. Alternative interventions for symptom management
   1. Intense involvement in the last days of life
   1. Reprocessing the experience with loves ones after the death
   1. Active involvement in early grief

Doula Approach:       

1. Life Review
   1. Planning
   1. The vigil
   1. The Ritual
   1. Reprocessing

Three areas of Activity:

1. The dying person reflecting on their life and planning for how they envision the last days of life to unfold.
2. Holding space for the plan of those last days, when the body is finally breaking down.
3. After the person dies, as family and friends process their experiences of the dying time and begin their work on grief.