January Educational Webinar:
All Things Hospice
with Merilynne Rush and Karen Reppen
Tuesday January 14, 2020
7:00 pm EST, 4 pm PST

Two of the most frequently asked questions we get from new, interested and experienced end-of-life doulas are, "How do doulas integrate with hospice?" and "What about being a hospice volunteer?"

Karen is a prolific writer who has her finger on the pulse of EOL doula issues from around the country. Merilynne worked as a hospice nurse and is an EOL doula trainer who also speaks with doulas and trainers from around the country.

These two dynamic and personable speakers will share their wisdom with us in a conversation format as they discuss the merits of hospice volunteering to gain experience, how to approach your local hospice, what you need to know about hospice policies and politics, and trends they see as we continue to navigate the terrain of this developing profession.

Hope you'll join us! All NEDA members receive the link in a direct email. Join now!

Merilynne Rush, NEDA President, is a Nurse Educator with an MS in Hospice and Palliative Studies. Formerly a home birth midwife, she co-founded Lifespan Doulas, an EOL and birth doula training organization. She is a Respecting Choices® Facilitator and Instructor, home funeral guide, and green burial educator, and facilitates the Ann Arbor (Michigan) Death Café.

Karen Reppen is an EOL doula and grief specialist. She founded Persephone’s Garden and is part of Walking Each Other Home and Solace Friends, Inc., a social model hospice program for those experiencing homelessness. As an experienced hospice communications professional, she offers education and support around aging, illness, death and grief, as well as home funerals and natural burials.

Previous Webinars

"Memorial Arts" with EE Miller, MFA, MA, November 21, 2019
The presentation included simple and accessible tools to engage for a range of experiences and situations, including dementia, anticipatory grief, and the tendency to view death only in terms of what is happening to the body.

​"Spiritual Care for the Dying" with Patricia Lyndale, October 15, 2019
​Patricia Lyndale, a hospital chaplain, shared with us how doulas can work with chaplains to provide spiritual care for the dying.  She offered information on the difference between spiritual screening, spiritual history, and spiritual assessment. Pat also taught us a tool for taking a spiritual history!
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"Nurturing Touch for the Dying" with Elizabeth Erbrecht, LMT, September 10, 2019
​Elizabeth Erbrecht LMT shared her vast knowledge of nurturing touch for the dying. She included some tips on having the conversation, how to touch, and how to support families in touching those they love that are nearing the end of life. She also shared the four types of touch that she teaches: being present with the body, energy work, light touch and nurturing touch, using presence as her guide in working with bodies.​

​"How to Market and Build Your Social Media Platform as an End-of-Life Doula" with Alua Arthur and Suzanne O'Brien, RN, July 22, 2019
​Suzanne O'Brien, RN, and Alua Arthur shared tips and tricks for growing your platform as an End-of-Life Doula. This informational webinar shared how to engage one's natural skills and personality while also leveraging opportunities to create community and spread the word about our work. It was a rich session where members shared some of what has worked for them and some challenges that they've encountered along the way. We find the most strength and support when we can be in conversation together about what we are experiencing in the field!​

​"After Death Care and the End of Life Doula" with Lee Webster and Merilynne Rush, April 30, 2019
National Home Funeral Alliance and NEDA leaders Lee Webster and Merilynne Rush discussed the legal obligations of end-of-life doulas once the patient has died - a topic often not thoroughly covered in doula trainings. We learned about the home funeral movement that laid the groundwork for after-death care, and important details about the ins and outs of helping end-of-life doulas and their families once the family member dies.

Meet the Experts

Looking for more in-depth information to strengthen and build your practice? Let us help. Become a NEDA member at any level to receive e-invitations to participate in our interactive online learning webinars and get links to pre-recorded past webinars. In our Member-only webinars we explore critical aspects of providing quality doula care. You will receive an email with the log-in information and a follow-up email with the link to the recording. We also post this info in our Members-only Facebook group. We welcome your questions and ideas for topics and people to interview—send them to us here.