Home > Newsletters > SUMMER 2022
| OREGON READIES ITSELF FOR PSILOCYBIN: A PRIMER FOR THOSE IN THE END-OF-LIFE SPACE |
| by Erin Collins and Angelique Loscar |
| In June 2004 researchers at Johns Hopkins University recruited 12 patients with advanced cancer for an unusual study: to see whether a psychedelic drug could help ease anxiety and depression at the end of life.
The results were remarkable—they showed that patients had a statistically significant reduction in anxiety and an improvement in mood. Even more surprising was that after just one session, these effects lasted for months. Since then more studies have confirmed these findings. Many patients have reported having experiences that changed their perception of illness, dying, and death. Some even reported no longer fearing death. |
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| doula Profile |
| Diane Marama Winder |
| Diane Marama Winder, OSI is a trained biologist, writer, and soul activist with over 30 years of experience. She is in private practice as an INELDA-trained end-of-life doula, mentor, and interspiritual minister based in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), Aotearoa (New Zealand). In addition, Marama specializes in grief, loss, life transitions, shadow and soul work, and women’s issues. |
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| Q&A with Marama |
| When and why did you decide to become an end-of-life doula? |
| Throughout my life I have been inspired by the mysteries of life and death. Having been raised on the verdant lands of the Algonquian peoples, surrounded by nature within a large, deeply religious, and spiritual family, living and dying were part of the fabric of our lives. |
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End-of-Life Doula Training
August 2–26 | TUE 6pm & FRI 6pm ET
INELDA’s foundational doula training is for those who intend to serve the dying as part of a hospice program, in a hospital or care facility, through a community program, in a doula collective, or independently. Topics include model of care, deep active listening, ritual, vigil planning, and more. This training will meet for eight sessions, with two optional Q&A sessions. REGISTER
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Self-Care Workshop 1
August 10 | WED 7pm – 8:30pm ET
Developing a Holistic Approach to Self-care. This first self-care workshop in our self-care series offers an opportunity to reflect, reconnect, rediscover and explore rituals as ways to embody wellness. Join educators Dr. Jamie Eaddy Chism, Rasalin Neudeck and Omni Kitts Ferrara for the evening and start developing an essential self-care practice for your life. REGISTER |
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| MEDIA OF THE MONTH |
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| Already Toast: Caregiving and Burnout in America by Kate Washington, Beacon Press, (2021) |
Reviewed by Claudette Peterson
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| When Kate Washington was feeling overwhelmed from caregiving for her ill husband while simultaneously raising two small children, she took an online assessment to determine whether she was experiencing burnout. The verdict: “You’re already toast!” (This was accompanied by a stock photo of burnt toast.) READ MORE |
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| HELLO, END OF LIFE COMMUNITY! |
by Doug Simpson, INELDA CEO
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| Over the past few years, our field has grown significantly, and I am hoping to learn about what each of you is working on! It is my desire to create more dialogue among all of us working in the end-of-life space. Here’s what INELDA has been up to so far in 2022.
INELDA continues to grow its learning offerings. This year we have introduced “Going Deeper”, a doula training refresher, plus three new classes: “Doula-ing Dementia”, “Navigating Grief”, and “Decolonizing Deathcare”, along with more than a half-dozen workshops. |
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| Our core end-of-life training was originally founded on a three-phase model. We are now shifting away from this original model to an approach that focuses on foundational principles rooted in a multifaceted human experience. READ MORE |
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| INELDA UPDATE |
| ANNOUNCING THE FALL SERIES |
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| Join us for our new fall lineup! We are releasing two new online classes, “Navigating Grief” (out now!) and “Decolonizing Deathcare” (signup available 8/5), along with nine new individual online workshops. Learners can enroll in workshops as a series or as individual sessions. Browse our released fall offerings and stay tuned in the next few weeks for more information on workshops below. READ MORE |
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| A FEW SPOTS AVAILABLE FOR OUR SEPTEMBER IN-PERSON TRAINING |
Garden Spot Village, located in New Holland, Pennsylvania, will host “End-of-Life Doula Training” Thursday through Saturday, September 8-10, 2022. This course includes over 25 hours of in-person instruction and 12 hours of self-study prior to classroom learning.The cost for the three-day course is $650. READ MORE
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UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING AND UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA DOULA SURVEY
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| Researchers Amanda DeDiego, assistant professor at the University of Wyoming and Feven Seifu, assistant teaching professor at the University of Minnesota have teamed together to understand the motivations, roles, and experiences of death doulas in end-of-life care. Amanda and Fevem reached out to INELDA, as well as other doula organizations around the country in hopes of gathering additional information. While the researchers may have reached out to some of you directly, they are still actively seeking end-of-life doulas working in the U.S. to share their experiences for the study. The survey takes approximately 10-15 minutes with an option to submit an audio or video recording describing your experiences of being a doula and how the pandemic impacted your work. TAKE THE SURVEY |
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COALITION BUILDING WITH ASA and NHCHC
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| INELDA continues to partner with organizations pushing forward policies that advance our vision of equitable and inclusive end-of-life support. This past month we became members of the American Society on Aging (ASA) and the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (NHCHC). READ MORE |
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IN THE NEWS
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| Kris Kington-Barker, Jamie Eaddy Chism, and Marian Harnish were interviewed by Carole Deck, in Lancaster Online, about the upcoming INELDA class at Garden Spot Village. READ MORE |
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| INELDA’S august WEBINAR |
| Monthly Webinar |
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| Building Compassionate Community Pt. 3: The Role of End-of-Life Doulas in Serving People Living With Disabilities |
Wednesday, August 31st, 7:00-8:30pm ET
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| Join INELDA this month as we continue to explore intersectionality and how end-of-life doulas can nurture connections in and across communities. We are committed to making death-care education and doulas accessible for all. In August, with the Rev. Dr. Raedorah C. Stewart, we will explore inequities in care faced by people with visible and invisible disabilities. |
| Dr. Jamie Eaddy Chism, INELDA’s director of program development, will facilitate this webinar, where Stewart will share her wisdom and practical knowledge about disability, access, and end-of-life care. Come and continue to grow with us. Rev. Dr. Raedorah Stewart is broadly published in peer-review journals and faith-based blogs on disability and faith, queer studies in religion, theology and the arts, and preaching. She hosts WGBD: When God is Black & Disabled, a podcast by and with Black women of faith with disabilities and chronic illnesses. READ MORE |
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| Cost: Free with INELDA membership | non-members $15 |
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| PRACTICE CORNER |
| TOOLBOX TIPS |
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Since masks are required in many situations, when you’re working with clients, consider wearing a lip-reading mask. It will allow them to see your lips, and it’s better for sharing facial expressions. I use lip-reading masks in the hospital for my spiritual-care visits. —Barbara White
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| SHARING SOURCES |
Five Wishes
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| For 25 years, Five Wishes has guided individuals and organizations in discussing advance care planning with their loved ones and members. Today, over 40 million people have filled out the legal document codifying their advance directives and end-of-life wishes. |
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| The low-cost booklet is written in 30 languages and is accessible as a digital or hard-copy document. The Five Wishes advance directive document was written with the assistance of the American Bar Association so that it would be legally valid under most states’ advance directive statutes. |
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ASK INELDA
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| I live outside the United States, and I’m doing this work where there is only one other death doula nearby. The general feedback she’s getting is that we don’t need doulas. How do we fit into places that may feel doulas are not needed? —April training participant |
| Educator Jamie: One way doulas make headway in the United States is by building relationships with institutions—letting them know that doulas can provide relief for care-team members. A lot is happening in the patient’s room. For example, nurses sometimes try to comfort and educate loved ones while also handling patient care, which can be overwhelming and time-consuming for all involved. Doulas can become part of the team and relieve the burden. In the United States, the average person spends around three hours with their hospice team for a whole week! So there’s a lot of space for you to enter to provide support and care. READ MORE |
| Please submit questions to [email protected] |
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| Self-Care Prescription |
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Self-Care and Creativity
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Self-care is vital to preserving my wellness! As a young child, I was always drawn to creating art. I could color and doodle for hours. However, as I became an adult, that childhood pleasure slipped away with adulting responsibilities. In a self-exploration class several years ago, I was challenged to reflect on my childhood and articulate an experience that brought significant joy. You are right if you guessed art as the experience I reflected on! Shortly after, I was introduced to mindfulness-based art therapy as a modality for self-care. This technique has worked wonders. Mindfulness-based art therapy has brought art back into the forefront of my life at a time when I needed it the most. As an end-of-life educator specializing in the unique needs of our Nation’s Veteran and caregiver community, it is critical for me to find time to unwind, center, and have quiet introspection. READ MORE
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— Qwynn Galloway-Salazar, PhD, founder of In Their Honor, LLC
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| News Briefs |
| Grief Increases Inflammation |
| A team of scientists has found that stress experienced by bereaved spouses exacerbates interleukin-6, a proinflammatory cytokine, creating increased inflammation within the body. The study monitored 111 bereaved adults, from 35 to 84 years old, who had lost a spouse in the past year. By obtaining blood samples from the study participants, the team was able to analyze how stress affected each individual through simulated stress scenarios. READ MORE |
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Study Finds Preparing for Death Improves Quality of Life
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| The Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (JPSM) published a study that evaluated the relationship between cancer patients’ death preparedness and their psychological distress, quality of life (QOL), and end-of-life care. The study looked at four levels of preparedness in 383 patients within the last six months of their lives: no death preparedness, cognitive death preparedness only, emotional death preparedness only, and sufficient death preparedness. READ MORE |
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Health Inequities Cost $320 Billion a Year
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| The Deloitte actuary team developed a model that quantified the link between health-care spending and health-care disparities related to race, socioeconomic status, and sex/gender. By analyzing diseases that required high financial payouts, the team projected that costs could balloon to $1 trillion by 2040 if these inequities are not addressed. READ MORE |
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| The Final Word |
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The Wish to be Generous
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by Wendell Berry
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ALL that I serve will die, all my delights,
the flesh kindled from my flesh, garden and field,
the silent lilies standing in the woods,
the woods, the hill, the whole earth, all
will burn in man’s evil, or dwindle
in its own age. Let the world bring on me
the sleep of darkness without stars, so I may know
my little light taken from me into the seed
of the beginning and the end, so I may bow
to mystery, and take my stand on the earth
like a tree in a field, passing without haste
or regret toward what will be, my life
a patient willing descent into the grass.
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© INELDA 2021 International End of Life Doula Association is a
501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization
Tax ID#: 47-3023741
Phone: 201-540-9049
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