Learn the “long-view” of end-of-life care and how hospice care has changed over time to now include death doulas.
My guest Deanna Cochran is a registered nurse with certification in hospice and palliative care who has served as a private EOL doula since 2005, so she is truly a pioneer in the movement. She is the founder of the CareDoula® School of Accompanying the Dying and the author of “Accompanying the Dying: Practical, Heart-Centered Wisdom for End-of-Life Doula and Healthcare Advocates.” Today we begin a “deep-dive” conversation that covers our experiences in nursing and medical training, hospice of the past vs today’s hospice, and why death doulas are so important right now. Tune in next week for Part 2 of our discussion! Learn more about Deanna’s work and the trainings she offers at her website:
This episode includes:
- How Deanna was first introduced to sitting vigil by her grandmother
- The lack of death training in nursing and medical schools
- Why we have to be aware of our own suffering before we can sit with the suffering of others
- Why death doulas are needed now more than ever in our busy and understaffed healthcare system
- How hospice care has changed over the years
- What to do if you are receiving inadequate care from a hospice
- How the medical system falls short of whole-person care by focusing primarily on the physical aspect of patients
- Why personal experience matters a great deal in caring for the dying
- The value of stillness and being quiet in end-of-life care
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Register for workshop: Surviving the Aftermath of Suicide – September 9th 1-3 pm Pacific
- Sign up for the 2021 online reading group A Year of Reading Dangerously at this link
- Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop and Indiebound: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying and The Journey from Ego to Soul
- Subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher Radio
- Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
- Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu and get access to the EOLU mug: “Mind if we talk about death?” (only Patrons can purchase it). PLUS get our new bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!
If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my newest supporters Alix Lutnick and Nancy Kendrick! Your contributions make all the difference.