Researching End Of Life Doulas

Researching End Of Life Doulas, Continuity of Care, and Compassionate Community Formation (H12662)

Continuity of care as a spectrum of support offered by End Of Life Doulas to their clients and networks of care around clients, and the role death literacy plays in establishing compassionate communities around clients of End Of Life Doulas is the focus of this international research project.

End Of Life Doulas are a part of the growing End Of Life worker professions, and the strategies employed by End Of Life Doulas to promote both death literacy and form compassionate communities for their clients is an under-researched area. How End Of Life Doulas frame continuity of care in terms of their own professional practice is also an under-researched, and overlapping aspect, of the field overall. By interviewing End Of Life Doulas from Australia, Canada, the UK, and the USA and comparing the stories, strategies, and perspectives of End Of Life Doulas within and between each country, a clearer picture will emerge of how End Of Life Doulas in different contexts and health systems work to support their clients.

If you are an End Of Life/death Doula who has undertaken specific training – i.e.: training that stated it was for End Of Life Doulas and that your overall End Of Life Doula training is a minimum of five days overall (not necessarily at one time) – and have attended at least three deaths in the course of your career, then we invite you to participate in our research project. We are interested in finding out what you consider your role in providing continuity of care to clients, how you go about creating compassionate community networks with and for your clients, what role – if any – you think death literacy plays in the formation of compassionate communities, and how you as a professional overcome resistance to forming compassionate communities for clients.

If interested in more information please contact Dr Annetta Mallon: A.Mallon@westernsydney.edu.au