Recommended Reading

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The Hospice Journey Handbook: Your Complete Guide Through the Hospice Experience

Between Life and Death: A Gospel-Centered Guide to End-of-Life Medical Care

It’s OK That You’re Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand

Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief

Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved

A Matter of Death and Life: Love, Loss and What Matters in the End

When Breath Becomes Air

The Art of Dying

Creating Moments of Joy Along the Alzheimer’s Journey: A Guide for Families and Caregivers, Fifth Edition, Revised and Expanded

Death Is But a Dream: Finding Hope and Meaning at Life’s End

Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying

How Do I Know You? Dementia at the End of Life

The Eleventh Hour: A Caring Guideline for the Hours to Minutes Before Death

By Your Side, A Guide for Caring for the Dying at Home

Living Well to Die Well – A Guide for Terminally Ill People and Their Loved Ones

Living with Death and Dying

On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families

On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss

Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief

It’s OK That You’re Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand

The Dying Process: Your Essential Guide To Understanding Signs, Symptoms & Changes At The End Of Life

Compassion Crossing Academy — Free and paid online courses are available to teach caregivers, nurses, social workers, chaplains, end-of-life advocates, and educators, including death doulas, how to confidently coordinate complex care.

The Death Deck is often a wonderful conversation starter.

Bridges to Eternity: The Compassionate Death Doula Path book series:

Find an End-of-Life Doula

Currently, no official organization regulates end-of-life doulas (EOLDs). Remember that some EOLDs listed in directories may no longer be practicing, so it’s important to verify their current status.

End-of-Life Doula Schools

Before you consider a death doula school, please volunteer with a local hospice provider as a “companion volunteer” to gain experience with strangers who are dying, as well as with family and staff dynamics. The author also recommends reading the article Economic rant: The death doula crisis we aren’t talking enough about, as most death doula schools do not emphasize that being a death doula is a calling rather than a career.

The following are end-of-life (aka death doula) schools for those interested in becoming an end-of-life doula:

Remember that there is no official accrediting body for end-of-life doula programs. Certification simply shows you’ve completed an unaccredited course and received a certificate of completion. It’s advisable to have discovery sessions with any death doula school you’re considering — even if it isn’t listed here — to see if it meets your needs. Also, ask questions and reach out to references, such as former students, to assess whether the school provided a solid foundation for launching your own death doula practice.

Death Doula Alliances and Collectives

Please note that some members listed in a specific collective or alliance might no longer be active.

End-of-Life-Doula Articles

Caregiver Support Book Series

The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People Who Have Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias

Caregiver Support Book Series

Dementia Caregiver Essentials: Comprehensive Guide for Dementia Care (one book that contains the ten books below for less than one-third the price of all ten)

Gone from My Sight: The Dying Experience

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

One-to-One Hospice Nurse Coaching

Self-Paced Hospice Nurse Courses

Digital Downloads for Hospice Teams

The following are hospice-related digital products intended to aid benefit clinicians and agencies:

Empowering Excellence in Hospice: A Nurse’s Toolkit for Best Practices book series

The best symptom management book the author has read: Notes on Symptom Control in Hospice & Palliative Care

Holistic Nurse: Skills for Excellence book series

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