Death doulas as supportive companions in end-of-life care: A scoping review

Background: Death doulas have gained greater attention recently by offering psychosocial, spiritual and other non-clinical support for patients with time-limiting diseases, including their families, with the potential to complement existing end-of-life care services. However, their roles, scope of p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Palliative Medicine 2022-05, Vol.36 (5), p.795-809
Main Authors: Yoong, Si Qi, Goh, Hongli Sam, Zhang, Hui
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Clinical outcomes
Confusion
Death & dying
Doulas
End of life decisions
Health care
Holistic nursing
Hospice care
Medical personnel
Narratives
Navigation
Palliative care
Professional attitudes
Psychosocial factors
Roles
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: Death doulas have gained greater attention recently by offering psychosocial, spiritual and other non-clinical support for patients with time-limiting diseases, including their families, with the potential to complement existing end-of-life care services. However, their roles, scope of practice and care impact remain poorly understood. Aim: To describe existing knowledge on death doulas regarding their roles, care impact, training and regulation. Design: This scoping review utilised Levac et al.’s framework and textual narrative synthesis to summarise the findings. Data sources: PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ProQuest, Google Scholar were searched for relevant articles from inception to 20 May 2021. Empirical studies, narrative reports, unpublished theses and studies in English were included. Results: Thirteen articles were included. Death doulas take on diverse roles in end-of-life care. Their roles include providing psychosocial, spiritual, practical support, companionship and resource navigation. The positive impacts of engaging a death doula include continuous presence, holistic service and flexible payment regime. The negative aspects include role inconsistencies and confusion among healthcare professionals and the public. Conclusions: Death doulas can augment existing end-of-life care services by providing holistic and personalised care services at home or hospital settings. Their roles are still evolving and remain mostly unregulated, with little evidence about their impact. There is a need for more rigorous studies to explore healthcare professionals’ views about this role and examine the clinical outcomes among dying persons and their families.
ISSN:0269-2163
1477-030X
DOI:10.1177/02692163221080659