End-of-Life University Ep. 505 How Death Doulas Fill the Gaps in End-of-Life Care with Kacie Gikonyo RN
Learn how death doulas are improving end-of-life care in our medical system by tending to things that often get ignored.
In this episode, I’m joined by Kacie Gikonyo, founder of The Death Doula Collective and Death Doula School. Drawing on more than a decade of nursing experience, Kacie shares how death doulas are helping to transform end-of-life care by addressing the emotional, spiritual, and relational needs that often go unmet by the medical system. We discuss the gaps in Western medical care, the shifts needed in how we approach dying, and how death doulas are bridging the divide with presence, advocacy, and compassion. Learn more at her website:
This episode includes:
- The limitations of Western medical care at the end of life
- What death doulas provide that hospitals and hospice often cannot
- How cultural mindset shifts could improve death care for everyone
- Why presence and non-medical support are essential for a good death
- Training and certification insights from the Death Doula School
- Stories of transformation from Kacie’s doula practice
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Register for free workshop on Sacred Activism for Soulcare Providers OR go to: tinyurl.com/sacredactivismworkshop
- Download Novena for Humanity on my Substack page
- NEW Gift Guides for Caregivers, People Receiving Care, and People Who are Grieving
- Get my two newest books!! Stories from the Dark Night and The Tao of Death
- Get EOLU Podcast Merch here
- Conversations on Death with ChatGPT – Audiobook here; Print Book here
- Leave me a message by email: kwyattmd@comcast.net, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
- 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 Souloin the team at Patreon.com/eolu and receive free gifts like the “Mind if we talk about death?” mini-poster or Love Your Life sticker or coffee mug. PLUS get our regular bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, monthly What to Watch recommendations, Behind the Scenes Bonus content, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!
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