A deathdoulais someone whoassists a dying individualand, typically, also the family before, during, and after a death occurs (often referred to as the pan-death “spectrum,” “process” or “journey”) to provide physical, emotional, psychological and even spiritual support.
Sometimes associated with the home-death or home-funeral movements, a death doula generally offers/assists in a wide range of services that can vary greatly, depending upon the circumstances, but generally seeks to provide a holistic, hands-on, non-medical approach to the fundamentally natural process of dying for all parties involved.
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How Death Doulas and Funeral Directors Are the Same and Different
As noted above, death doulas generally bridge the gap between efforts to prevent a death from happening and after a death occurs. This continuity of presence on the part of death doulas during the transition between life and death differs markedly from the role of funeral directors, whose responsibilities typically begin post-death (unless the deceased or his or her family prearranged and, possibly, pre-funded those post-death arrangements — a preneed situation).
Who Becomes a Death Doula?
People from all walks of life can choose to become a death doula, including grief counselors, hospice personnel, social workers, healthcare professionals, members of the clergy, individuals who witnessed a transformative death experience personally, etc. The reasons vary but, generally, anyone who feels the calling to help both the dying and their surviving loved ones during the transition from life to death might decide to become a death doula.
Why Would I Use a Death Doula?
While the reasons vary, people can find turning over control and care of their deceased loved one to strangers following a death (an at-need situation) an unpleasant or off-putting thought. This might particularly occur when a family member has served as a home caregiver during a prolonged illness or disease and, therefore, anticipated death to occur at some point. Others might desire to conduct a home funeral for personal, cultural, environmental or spiritual reasons.
Regardless of the specific reason, a death doula can provide the comforting continuity of presence that some families need when facing the death of a loved one, as well as serve as a trusted resource/facilitator.
Can They Embalm Bodies?
A death doula cannotembalma body unless they have received the medical training and professional licensure necessary to do so in a specific U.S. state. Embalming instruction is not part of the death doula-training process.
Licenses
Death doulas might, but not necessarily, receive training from a for-profit or not-for-profit organization or individual, but there is neither a standardized educational or training program death doulas must pass nor are they subject to government oversight, regulation or licensure.
What Does It Cost?
It depends on other caregiving facilities. Some death doulas work independently and might quote a flat fee for their services, or a per-day or even a per-hour cost. Each death doula sets their own fees, so make sure you ask about all of the costs involved upfront. Conversely, some death doulas volunteer their time, often in conjunction with other caregiving facilities, at no charge to the family.
How to Find a Death Doula
You may ask a healthcare provider, hospice, or funeral home for local death doulas. The National End-of-Life Doula Alliance alsoprovides a directoryof their members, as does theInternational End-of-Life Doula Association.
1 SourceVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Rawlings D, Tieman J, Miller-lewis L, Swetenham K.What role do Death Doulas play in end-of-life care? A systematic review.Health Soc Care Community.2019;27(3):e82-e94. doi:10.1111/hsc.12660
1 Source
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Rawlings D, Tieman J, Miller-lewis L, Swetenham K.What role do Death Doulas play in end-of-life care? A systematic review.Health Soc Care Community.2019;27(3):e82-e94. doi:10.1111/hsc.12660
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Rawlings D, Tieman J, Miller-lewis L, Swetenham K.What role do Death Doulas play in end-of-life care? A systematic review.Health Soc Care Community.2019;27(3):e82-e94. doi:10.1111/hsc.12660
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