End of Life Doula
Provides support and care for those in the last phases of life-limiting illness.
Recognizes dying as part of the normal process of living.
Focuses on quality of life for individuals and their family caregivers.
Since COVID19, I am providing all services remotely and with great success.
(please scroll down to the bottom of the page for the description of Doula Consultant)
Benefits
For Terminal Patient
Provide companionship and presence – emotional support and interaction
Earlier intervention – as they serve as they eyes and ears of hospice.
Increased sense of autonomy
Better coping skills and making family peace.
Longer and more frequent visits as needed.
Assistance with making memories, funeral arrangements, obituaries and memorials.
Holding space and helping family members cope.
Perform life review – validate sense of purpose
Setting the sacred space – planning for smells, sounds, gentle touch during last days.
For the Family
Continuous guidance and support with no time restrictions. Education on the natural end-of-life processes
Respite care: Allowing and encouraging needed rest of caregivers and family.
Reinforced family training: Reviewing hospice care instructions.
Compassionate presence throughout the dying process.
Assistance with making memories, funeral arrangements, obituaries and memorials.
Assistance with locating bereavement resources
For Hospice
Earlier Referrals: The median length of stay on Hospice to date is 20 days or less.
Increased Length of Stay: Communities know about doulas and the EOL patient and family. This equals earlier admission = increased length of stay = increased revenue for the Hospice agency.
Increased Satisfaction: Family and patient satisfaction scores increase, meaning happy families = positive word of mouth = increased revenue.
Increased Referrals: Customer satisfaction and innovative programs lead to more referrals.
Increased Volunteer Recruitment and Retainment: Specialized training with service commitments allowing you to meet the 5 % minimum
Enhanced Community Awareness and Interaction: Families are requesting End of Life Doulas. Help to soften the “Hospice” death stigma. Doulas will bring community and hospice together.
Increased Employee Moral.
Expansion of Hospice or organizations offerings.
Doula Care Consultant
90% of people say that talking to their family about their end of life care is important. Yet, only 27% have actually done it.
60% of people say they do not want their family to be burdened by making tough decisions.
56% have not communicated their end of life wishes. They don't want their families to be burdened, but they are not sharing with them what they would want, we're not communicating our wishes.
82% of people say that it is important to put their end of life wish in writing. Yet only 23% have actually done it. Out of the 23%, only half of those people know where it is.
*Data from the NHCPO—National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, 2018
As a Doula Care Consultant, I am able to assist individuals with planning for their future. A Doula care consultant is a professional specially trained to help another person through all aspects of advanced care planning.
We work together on:
Creating an Advanced Directive
Health Care Proxies
Creating living well plans
Resourcing and completing medical and legal documents
Facilitating family discussions.
Take action now! Being prepared with an end of life plan provides peace of mind, resulting in living a fuller more content life today. I’m proof!
Oh, How I Put it Off!
My husband and I knew that someday we would need to sit down and fill out an advanced directive and living will. For us, like so many others, it is the kind of thing that you either think you have oodles of time to do or, somehow by doing it, it will bring death closer. Then I read this story about a 64 year old woman who was on life support after an illness. Her two children fought over whether to keep her alive artificially or letting her go. One remembered her saying she would never want to be on life support, the other claimed to have never heard such a thing. 6 months later, yes 6 months later, the woman was still on life support, her children were estranged from one another, when the doctor finally decided to take her off the machine. She past 8 hours later.
That was it; we did not want anyone wondering what we wanted for our lives if that happened to us. So we picked a date, put it on our calendars, kept one another accountable for doing it and did it. To be honest, the advanced care directive and picking our health care proxies were the relatively easy parts. It was the figuring out what to do with all of our assets (since we don’t have children) that had us dragging our feet. But one thing at a time, and slowly but surely, we finished! And when we were complete, oh boy, —it was like having a 1000 pound brick taken off my shoulders!!! What a relief! We celebrated!
Please, if you or someone you know needs assistance in completing an end of life plan, contact me (310) 367-5889! I’m here to help you get through it. Then, you too can celebrate!
