More people use death doulas to help them with end-of-life care

Ashley Labelle says at a certain point in her life, she realized that becoming a death doula was her true calling.

Ashley Labelle of Sudbury, Ont., says at a certain point in her life, she realized that becoming a death doula was her true calling.

A death doula -- or an end-of-life doula -- is a non-medical professional who provides emotional, spiritual and practical support to a dying person and their family, acting as a guide to help navigate the logistics and legacy of the end-of-life journey.

Labelle is a personal support worker who has worked in health care for two decades, including in palliative care. Becoming a doula was a natural next step, she said.

Profound personal loss

“At the time I had realized that I’ve kind of been a death doula my entire life,” Labelle said.

She suffered a profound personal loss a year and a half ago when her sister, Angele, passed away. Angele was the first Heart in a Box donor in northeastern Ontario, where donated hearts are kept beating using a special machine, dramatically extending the time for transport and transplant.

As her family navigated the loss of her sister, Labelle said she took on a supportive role.

“I was that safe space that was non-judgmental, that my entire family was able to come to, you know, be sad, be mad, scream, do what they had to do,” she said.

“When I did see that there was such a thing now out there in Canada and around the world as a death doula, I was like, you know what? This is my calling. It truly is.”

A death doula has several roles, including practical ones such as helping with paperwork, funeral planning and organizing final wishes.

The doulas have an emotional support role, providing a calm, non-judgmental presence to help families process grief and fear.

And they help the individual find meaning or summarize their life through letters, photos or stories.

The doulas are paid by the family or individual, since the service is not usually covered by public or private insurance.

“We are not legally entitled to do anything medical or on the legal part,” Labelle said.

“We are what bridges that gap in between our health-care system and, at the end, which is where the family would deal with the funeral director. So, I’m able to come in. The family can either hire me or ask me for help.”

Gerry Lougheed, president of Lougheed Funerals, said death doulas help break down barriers.

‘Part of the human journey’

“We don’t talk about death, but it’s an inevitable part of the human journey,” Lougheed said.

“So the more information we have, the more people are empowered to make good decisions and also to provide good support.”

Lougheed, a funeral director for five decades, said the nature of funerals has changed.

“The traditional funeral has changed enormously in the last decade in particular,” he said.

“So having a two-day visitation, having a religious service, having a gathering in churches or temples or mosques, perhaps is not as popular as it once was, because we’re a secular society. So, who then fills in those gaps of support?”

Labelle said becoming a death doula as a profession is gaining interest.

“It is something that is growing,” she said.

“In Canada in the past three years, we went from 500 registered death doulas to 1,500.”

Laurentian University offers one of Canada’s few accredited death doula programs. The program is 100 hours and is offered online.

“This program focuses a great deal on ethical and professional boundaries,” said Nicole Caron, an end-of-life doula instructor at Laurentian.

Caron is a death doula herself and found the profession after her parents passed away in 2016.

“I didn’t have all of this knowledge, all of this understanding and, honestly, it was a terrifying experience when you don’t exactly know what is available out there and how to truly support,” she said.

“I remember when they passed, I sat there and said, there has to be another way of doing this.”

The program started at Laurentian a little more than a year ago, and Caron said she’s seen it grow, drawing in professionals from a range of fields, from health care to bankers.

“There’s a lot more discussion being had about death,” she said.

“Because of those discussions and because we’re starting to normalize the conversations around death and dying, people are becoming more interested and curious and wanting to be able to support, in a much more holistic manner, those who they love.”

Labelle said death doulas are not recognized as medical professionals by the Canadian government yet, which means the services are not covered by OHIP.

Changing the way we view death

She’s hoping that will change.

“I’m hoping that in the next five to 10 years, we are recognized by the government because we are certified and it is something that is missing in our system,” Labelle said.

“I believe that once it is recognized … people’s views and the way that people die or how they think about death will change.”

Labelle is hosting monthly death cafes in Sudbury and bi-monthly in North Bay. She said she is hoping to expand to more cities.

“It’s a safe, non-judgmental place where anybody from any walk of life, any age, it doesn’t matter if you’re dying or not, if you had somebody that passed away … or if you have a prognosis,” she said.

Labelle said she’s hoping to make the conversation around death more comfortable.

“I believe that no matter who you are, where you come from, what your prognosis is, everybody deserves to have a good death,” she said.

“We all want to have a good birth. Why is it not OK for us to die well?”

Labelle’s first death café will be held at the Lougheed Funeral home in Hanmer on Jan. 13 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.