End-of-Life Doulas: Documenting Their Backgrounds and Services

• Published in: Omega: Journal of Death and Dying 2023-12, Vol.88 (2), p.505-524
• Main Authors: Dellinger Page, Amy, Husain, Jonelle H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Death & dying; Demography; Doulas; Employment; End of life decisions; Health care; Hospice care; Palliative care; Polls & surveys; Relatives
• ISSN: 0030-2228; 1541-3764
• DOI: 10.1177/00302228211047097

This is an exploratory study to document the demographic characteristics, backgrounds, and services provided by trained and certified INELDA end-of-life doulas. Like birth doulas, end-of-life doulas represent a divergent, yet complementary form of care for dying persons. The purpose of end-of-life care is to facilitate comfort of the dying person and their closest family members. Surveys were completed by 618 end-of-life doulas regarding their demographic characteristics, employment backgrounds, services, and their experiences providing end of life care to dying persons and their closest family members. Follow-up qualitative interviews were also conducted with a subset of 39 respondents who completed the original survey. Results show that trained doulas are largely white (91.4%), female (90.4%), hold a Bachelor’s (32.3%) or Masters (32.4%) degree, and are employed outside of their EOLD work (70.1%). Qualitative data details services provided to dying persons and family members in addition to the benefits and challenges of working with traditional healthcare settings.