Learning Is Ongoing: Introducing Our Community of Practice and Group Changes
by INELDA
We feel that learning is a living curriculum in which we all bring lived experience to the conversation for communal growth.
As we embark on our 10th year as an organization, we pause to acknowledge how much our community and the end-of-life doula community as a whole has grown over the past decade. To continue to support this growth, we wanted to highlight our offerings for members and doulas who have trained with us. It is our mission to support you no matter where you are in your journey in deathcare.
This past year we introduced the concept of a community of practice to our team at INELDA. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this term, communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. (Social learning theorists Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner have an introduction to communities of practice here.)
Our approach to embedding our organizational structure as a community of practice allows for ongoing collaborative growth. As we begin this new year, we would like to introduce INELDA’s Community of Practice group for all who have trained with us since introducing our new curriculum in July 2024. (If you have studied with us previously, our updated end-of-life doula training is now available to you for $225 with membership. Please email us to enroll.)
After taking our end-of-life doula training, it can help to have some additional practice space as you step into your role as doula. At INELDA, we feel that learning is a living curriculum in which we all bring lived experience to the conversation for communal growth. We invite you to be a part of our community of practice and continue to hone skills and practice alongside each other. As aspects of this field grow and change, we too as a committed group of end-of-life doulas can learn together.
What to Expect From INELDA’s Community of Practice
This group offers a monthly learning structure led by an INELDA educator and an educator assistant. After connecting with each other, we will briefly review the INELDA Doula Approach, and then the educator will offer a case study for the group to consider and discuss. After processing the example together, doulas will be able to share a few personal scenarios for the group to move through the INELDA Doula Approach collectively. This will allow participants to continue to engage in situations that may arise in their role as a doula. The scenarios we worked with are an extension of your training and offer ongoing continuing education. This group meets the second Wednesday of every month from 7 to 8:30 p.m. ET.
In addition to our community of practice monthly meetings, we have also reconfigured how our peer mentoring program will run for members with access.
What to Expect From INELDA’s Peer Mentoring Program
We will spend our time together discussing creative ways to engage in doula support, address emerging needs, and find ways for people who are currently supporting the dying and their circle of care to learn from one another. The peer mentoring sessions will have three INELDA representatives per session. The role of the facilitators is not to lead the group or act as an expert; rather, they are there to hold a safe space for conversation.
During our monthly peer group meetings, we will create three breakout rooms to allow individuals to choose which group they would like to participate in for that session. The doula group is for all trained doulas who are Tier 2 and 3 members. The BIPOC group is for those who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color. The PRIDE group is for those in the LGBTQIA2S+ community. The three rooms are created with the intention of allowing more safe and honest conversation to emerge. Doulas can join any room that feels most aligned with their identity and their needs for the day.
Although we may stand in allyship of one another, we ask that you only join groups that represent your lived experience. We acknowledge and understand that everyone can carry many intersections within their identity and that one room alone may not attend to these nuances. For this reason, people are able to switch between rooms as needed, or join different rooms on different days. Access the schedule and sign up here.
Lastly, all members (whether you have completed your training or are just exploring the deathcare community) have access to our monthly community meetups.
What to Expect From INELDA Community Meetups
The meetings are varied in style and include connecting with others in breakout groups, partner and member presentations, self-care offerings, and discussions of the ways we can advance deathcare support to all communities. Each month has unique themes and ways to explore death and dying, both personally and within your community. These are facilitated by INELDA’s membership coordinator, Janine Cuthbertson.
These meetings were created to allow us to be in community with one another and to be able to connect with other doulas. Imagine a casual setting with some great topics surrounding insurance, storytelling, doula heroes, doula collectives, and advance care directives. Access the schedule and sign up here.
Supporting Your Vision
We welcome you into all of these spaces. No matter where you find yourself along your journey within the doula community, there is a home for you at INELDA. These different offerings were created to support your ongoing education as a doula and deathcare advocate, no matter how long or short you have been providing end-of-life services.
As always, we would love to hear from you anytime with feedback, thoughts, and ideas at [email protected].