International Doulagivers Institute Announces Educational Partnership Program to Support Global End of Life Education

Hospice nurse Suzanne B. O'Brien creates a network of end of life doula trainers to offer free education to families and community volunteers around the world.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, June 6, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ -- End of Life Disconnect: A National Hospice Organization³ Gallup Poll found that nine out of ten people who were terminally ill wanted to die at home, yet half were dying in the hospital. The same poll found that the number one fear of the dying patient was becoming a burden to their family.
“Because of our society’s overwhelming fear of death, it is almost impossible to teach families how to fully care for their dying loved ones,” said O’Brien. “Compounding that is the short amount of time the patients spend at home.” In fact, another study found that seven out of ten families said that they felt they were referred to hospice too late . “We have literally become paralyzed by the topic of death, and this fear is making the experience so much harder than it needs to be for both patients and families,” observes O’Brien. “Planning for end of life wishes and discussing them with loved ones takes a great weight off of both patients and families.”

O’Brien got the idea for End-of-Life Doulas² during a Hospice volunteer trip to Zimbabwe, Africa, in September, 2012. Because the hospice there has a great need and limited resources, the hospice workers teach a neighbor how to care for a dying patient and their family through that last phase of life - like a Doula. Doula is a Greek word meaning a non-medical person trained to care for someone physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It is usually associated with the birth of a baby. “I have always drawn the analogy between new life entering this world and the phase of life leaving this world. Both require special love and preparation,” said O’Brien.
O’Brien endorses this model of community taking care of community. Having worked with so many people from all different cultures and backgrounds, O’Brien appreciates that people across the world are more similar than different, and recognizes that everyone will need care and support when the time comes. “Death is inevitable,” says O’Brien, “but with the right education, kindness and compassion, we can help one another through this natural part of our life’s journey.”


Doulagivers Trainers and Partners To Provide Free Education to their Communities. The Doulagivers education partners will be offering the Free Level 1 End of Life Doula Family Caregiver/ Community volunteer training programs and host Death Cafe's in their communities. The Level 1 training will be offered for free through live webinars and live in person workshops. Death Cafe's will be held in community spaces and are free of charge. Doulagivers' main goal is to educate and empower family caregivers and community volunteers to have the skills to care for their own at the end of life. This invaluable education and awareness can help ensure that everyone everywhere can have a peaceful end of life experience.

About Death Cafe¹
The Death Café movement, started in 2011 by Jon underwood of London, England is now a powerful global movement (The New York Times featured the NYC Death Café in June, 2013). The cafes are a safe environment where people can share thoughts, questions, and philosophies about death and dying.

About Suzanne B. O’Brien RN
O’Brien is a former Hospice and Oncology Nurse in New York, N.Y. O’Brien facilitates Death Café New York City UWS and has held Death Cafe's in Boston, MA, Millerton NY and Dutchess County, NY. She is the founder and creator of The Doulagivers Training. She began to train End-of-Life Doulas throughout the country and the world in 2012. O'Brien Founded The International Doulagivers Foundation in October 2017. The non-profit provides resources, medical equipment, medicine and education to underserved communities around the world. We now have trained Doulagivers and education partners in 8 countries with the hope of eventually having the free family Doulagivers education and a volunteer End-of-Life Doula resource network in every community around the world.

Doulagivers Trainers and Education Partners

Doulagivers of Door County, WI http://www.doulagivers.com/doulagivers-door-county-wi/
Doulagivers of New England http://www.doulagivers.com/doulagivers-of-new-england/
Doulagivers of New Haven, CT http://www.doulagivers.com/doulagivers-new-haven-county/
Doulagivers of South Jersey http://www.doulagivers.com/doulagivers-of-south-jersey/
Doulagivers of North Central Florida http://www.doulagivers.com/doulagivers-of-north-central-florida/
Doulagivers of Seattle https://www.facebook.com/Doulagivers-of-Seattle-1125087530964505/
Doulagivers of Northeast Indiana http://www.doulagivers.com/doulagivers-of-northeast-indiana/
Doulagivers of The Midwest https://www.facebook.com/doulagiversmidwest/
Doulagivers of North East Ohio https://www.facebook.com/doulagiversnortheastohio/
Doulagivers of South Florida. https://randrsolutions.lpages.co/doulagivers-of-south-floida/
Doulagivers of North Eastern New York https://www.facebook.com/DoulagiversNENY/

Doulagivers of Canada http://www.doulagivers.com/doulagivers-of-canada/
Doulagivers of South Africa https://www.facebook.com/DoulagiversSA/
Doulagivers of Thailand
Doulagivers of Philippines

For more information about The END-OF-LIFE DOULA Program and workshops, visit http://www.doulagivers.com
For more Information on The International Doulagivers Foundation, visit http://www.indgf.org
Source: National Hospice Organization Gallup Pole 1996
Survey: California CHF Healthcare Foundation 2012
















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Suzanne B. O'Brien RN
International Doulagivers Institute
646-883-6534
email us here

¹ http://deathcafe.com
² http://doulagivers.com
³ http://www.nhpco.org