Marne is an end-of-life doula and multidisciplinary artist based in Portland, Oregon. She currently serves the Portland metro area as a private practice doula and advocate. Caregiving, better end-of-life care options, and equal access to health care are at the core of Marne’s ethos on life and art. Her art practice explores the intersection of art and health, life cycles, mortality, and transformation.

Cassi and the House of Memories

Written by Dean Stuart

A timely, poetic, and age-appropriate graphic novel about how dementia impacts families through the eyes of a loving grandchild, Cassi and the House of Memories follows a little girl

on her journey to save her beloved grandfather as his memories start slipping away. With breathtaking art and a touch of fantastic magical realism, the book provides context and comfort for young readers experiencing the impact of mental illness on their loved ones.

INELDA’s certification program is opening applications for our fall cohort starting October 15th. The  comprehensive one-year cohort-based skills training program is designed to support you through mentorship, peer review, and continuing education. As an extension of INELDA’s community of practice founded and guided by INELDA’s core competencies, the certification program engages and applies the INELDA Doula Approach throughout the yearlong process, culminating in the design and practice of the doula’s field specialization of choice.

The value of having end-of-life doulas in your care providing system has real and beneficial outcomes. Doulas increase patient encounters, improve patient and family outcomes and thus CAHPS scores (Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems), support informed consent, lower cost and use of aggressive end-of-life treatments to create better quality of life through the dying process, and make your organization more desirable for people looking for support.

A group of researchers at the University of Utah are looking at perspectives on medical aid in dying, especially in the context of Alzheimer’s and related dementias. They are looking for a variety of health, social, and long-term care professionals and are reaching out to INELDA for valuable insights. The short 10- to 15-minute anonymous survey explores perspectives 

related to medical aid in dying (MAiD) in dementia. Participants have a chance to win 1 of 20 $100 gift cards, and interview participants receive $50 compensation.

Are you looking to make a meaningful impact in your community? Hospice of the West is seeking to add to its dedicated volunteer team and bring joy, comfort, and support to those who need it most. They are seeking patient care volunteers and administrative volunteers. Whether you enjoy direct interaction with patients, supporting behind the scenes, or sharing your special talents, there’s a place for you.

For this June’s webinar and Pride month we will be in conversation with Sherrill Wayland and Jane Haskell of SAGE. SAGE is an organization with over 40 years of experience working with LGBTQ+ elders. We will be discussing three of their programs: SAGECollab, SAGECare, and Long-Term Quality Care Index, and the ways in which we can apply them as end-of-life doulas who support members of the LGBTQ+ community. These programs provide care for LGBTQ+ elders, education for those who provide care, and tools for measuring how to provide the best quality of care for this community. Come learn more about the unique needs of the LGBTQ+ elder community and the ways in which SAGE’s expertise can equip deathcare workers with tools to provide the best possible care.

INELDA educator Omni Kitts Ferrara will moderate.

Cost: Free with INELDA Tier 2 & 3 Membership | Tier 1 and Non-members $15

Sherrill Wayland

Jane Haskell

“My hospice has a great program called tuck-in calls. These are weekly calls that volunteers make to check in on the primary caregivers of our patients on home hospice. It’s usually family members I speak with, but sometimes the patients answer and I chat with them too. The purpose of the call is really for the caregiver to have someone to talk to about what they are going through, and we also relay any needs they have to the team (supplies, urgent visit requests) to save them another call.”

—Amanda Altieri

The Cihuapactli Collective supports urban Indigenous peoples of the diaspora from womb to tomb. This is done by sharing ancestral knowledge, connecting resources, fostering community, and advocating for integrative wellness in food, land, birth, death, reproductive health, mental health, and cultural revitalization. 

In an effort to help open access to equitable, inclusive end-of-life care to underserved populations, the National Alliance for Care at Home has published a research report identifying pathways for achieving deathcare equity. Chief findings include that stronger relationships and trust between care providers and underserved populations, built via multiple communication channels, can better support vulnerable communities.

Five women, including two physicians, have filed a Kansas lawsuit challenging a clause in the state’s advance directive laws. Kansas’ Natural Death Act gives people who are incapacitated or terminally ill the right to accept or refuse health care in advance of incapacitation—and it states that pregnant people are exempt from giving this consent.

With community health workers a known way to support palliative care teams, reduce hospital visits for patients with advanced cancer, and boost deathcare equity, communities could benefit from incorporating more of them into health programs. A recent report from the California Budget and Policy Center on the state of community health workers in the California health care system aims to do exactly that.