End-of-Life Doula and Educator
Jane Dowling
I am Registered Nurse with over 30 years of experience, including working with pediatric and adult emergency care, post-trauma reconstructive surgery and as clinical coordinator for NIH/NIAID AIDS Clinical Trials Group at NYU Medical Center. It was in clinical, epidemiological and ethnographic research that I most closely worked with individuals at end-of-life. I became enlightened to the methods that people connected with each other…..and noted emerging interactive technology that facilitated those connections. Fueled by this curiosity, I attended and received my masters from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. I worked in the digital world as a User Experience Strategist for more than fifteen years. It is human interaction that gives technology meaning and I am interested in advocating for the human experience, not the machine experience. I believe that any service that starts with understanding people holistically from a place of empathy will result in solutions that reduce complexity and inspire connection with the experience.
Now I have combined the two expertises to address the remarkable human experience: End-of-Life. I have trained to be a death educator and end-of-life doula with leaders in these emerging fields, including Frank Ostaseski, Leslie Blackhall, Jeanne Denney, Henry Felsko-Wiess, Deanna Cochran, Suzanne O’Brien and Patty Burgess. Certified through Quality of Life Care.
Let’s design living to the fullest until you die. I look at the total human and the environment to create and deliver the best experience appropriate to your need. In order to accomplish this, I spend time to understand what is the desired experience. I work with those who want to plan their experience when they are ready to take it on, whether it is End-of-Life planning as an advanced planning exercise or End-of-Life Planning upon getting a life limiting diagnosis. I approach the initial stages of End-of-Life planning to uncover their needs by way of interviews and, most importantly, collaborative design. We create a plan and I assist and advocate. This is the ultimate experience… to assess and optimize the possibilities of a conscious transition from this experience. I serve as a planner, an advocate and witness. I help create a container of love and compassion where people can go through their own process, follow their own path and experience the transition.
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End-of-Life = the last stage of life. It is the living part of it!
Services
Because I believe everyone deserves competent, compassionate and personalized care, a sliding fee scale is available. My goal is to make End-of-Life planning and being present in the most supportive way, so we can create a payment plan that feels fair and sustainable for all involved. All in person visits will take into consideration travel time and expenses. Additional fees may occur based on these factors.
Private End-Of-Life Doula Services
From the initial, informational phone call to a planned ritual after the final breath, from creating a legacy project based on what you treasure to creating documents that will deliver your wishes, our collaborative work will bring a holistic approach to your end of life planning and experience.
Initial Phone Call
An opportunity to discover how to support you.
Free
30 Minute Phone Call
Planning topic of your choice
$35
One-Hour in Person Planning Session
Meet in your home or a neutral location to begin developing a Vigil Plan or a Legacy Project.
$75
In Person Support
4 hours of support in private home, care home or hospital. This package offers discounted support for many different needs. What if
loved ones reach a point of fatigue and need some rest? Perhaps you want to work on your Vigil Plan. Would your family like to work through the Advanced Directives form with assistance? Do you want to start a Legacy Project, gifting those you love with an emotional and spiritual sense of YOU? Can be broken into four 1-hour sessions.
$295
Private End-Of-Life Doula Packages
Six Hour Discovery Series
Three 2-hour sessions in a place of your choosing. It is imperative that a doula can spend time with the dying person, while they still have energy to talk so that a relationship can develop. Trust is established between the doula and the dying. This allows the doula to facilitate emotional movement when the dying person encounters emotional distress.
$445
End-of-Life Doula Package – Up to 20 Hours
Included in the package:
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Initial consultation by phone or in person
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Home visits or phone appointments on an ongoing basis focusing on Life Review, Vigil and Legacy Planning.
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Daily visit once transition begins (determined by hospice/medical team). Daily check-in for at least one hour as necessary (determined by Client/Client Caregiver). The family will be mentored on how to utilize the Vigil Plan (if created) and see where support is needed.
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Respite support.