Media FAQs

  • An end of life doula is a supporter or companion who accompanies people approaching the end-of-life through terminal illness or older age and those who are important to them. They are a consistent flexible presence, able to ‘fill the gaps’ in support by taking on various roles – practically, emotionally and, if desired, spiritually. We put the person who is dying and their family at the centre of all we do, advocating for the person’s wishes at every opportunity. We work in an open-hearted way to create an atmosphere of kindness, respect, dignity and normality for all concerned. We aim to help people feel safer and more at peace with death and dying, giving guidance, confidence and support in any way it is needed.

  • Living Well Dying Well Training pioneered the training of end of life doulas in the UK in 2010. Good quality end of life doula training involves deep self-reflection and exploration of our own mortality, death anxiety, family dynamics and experiences of grief, alongside factual knowledge about the dying process, health and social care services and processes, and much more. The LWDW diploma course, which takes a minimum of 18 months to complete, is Quality Assured by Crossfield’s Institute and requires practical case-study experience so that doulas can learn through doing the role, supported by mentoring from our organisation.

  • We come from a whole range of backgrounds including carers, teachers, nurses, accountants, journalists, and doctors. Some already have experience in palliative care others may have a therapeutic or counselling background; others have worked in a corporate environment and many have personal experience of caring for a relative or friend when they were dying. All are drawn to this work because they feel comfortable with death and feel they have something to contribute.

  • Some end of life doulas charge for the support they provide and others choose to volunteer. Those who charge can choose their own fees - some work on an hourly rate basis (commonly between £25-£45 an hour), others offer ‘sliding scales’ to suit different budgets, some offer packages of support where people buy a number of sessions. We believe that there is value in our work and support our members to charge if they want to, but crucially we do not want ability to pay to be a barrier to accessing support. This is why as a charity we fundraise to provide an Access Fund that can cover the costs of doula support for people who would otherwise be unable to access this.

    • guide people through the decisions and choices that need to be made at the end-of-life

    • help complete advance planning documentation to ensure wishes and preferences are known

    • be a point of contact for other services, visitors, and kinds of support

    • be an advocate for the person’s wishes

    • accompany people to appointments to support and advocate

    • organise offers of help to give family carers a much-needed break

    • take time to sit with the dying person, to ‘hold the space’

    • have conversations so death is approached with reduced fear or loneliness

    • be practical - assist around the house, with ‘life admin’, sorting belongings, making calls and finding information

  • It is Greek for ‘woman of service’, but the meaning has changed in modern times after it re-emerged as part of the birth doula movement. There are many parallels between birth and death - we provide support at the other ‘bookend’ of life. One reason we use the doula term is to connect us to the growing global end-of-life doula movement.

  • Yes, 2025 was a record year for us in terms of new members, with 115 people joining our association. There are several factors behind this increase - more awareness of our role, end of life doula support being funded in some areas making it a more viable paid role, the Covid-19 pandemic meaning that people had experiences of grief and bereavement which often lead people to our role as they want to support other people, and (we think and hope) an increase in peoples’ willingness to think and talk about death and dying.

  • We currently have around 450 members. Some of our members practice and are offering support in their communities and remotely, some focus on community education, others run community events such as Death Cafes and festivals, all of us are go-to people for our networks when people need to have open conversations about death, dying, and grief.

  • We provide information about end of life doulas through our website, social media, publications, and talks both to the public and other services. Our work is becoming more widely known, partly helped by a number of high-profile celebrities (such as Nicole Kidman) announcing that they are training to become an end of life doula. On a local level, end of life doulas do community talks and drop-in sessions to raise awareness of our role and the option of end of life doula support.

  • We are a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Our income is derived from donations, membership fees, grants and awards from funding bodies and our online CPD training for doulas.

  • Our practising members work within our Code of Practice, which includes working within the Law. In this country as the law currently stands, assisted dying is illegal. End of life doulas will always, respect an individual’s views and choices however currently they would not be able to support a person with assisted dying. As a membership association we are closely following the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill and will provide guidance to our members accordingly if the law changes. If assisted dying becomes legal, we will support our members to make their own personal decisions around whether they would want to support people choosing an assisted death.

  • We work in our communities to increase death literacy and death competency. This work can include running events, festivals and seminars; hosting Death Cafes; running workshops on topics such as Advance Planning for End of Life and Caring for a Dying Person at Home. We create opportunities for people to consider, connect with, talk about, and prepare for death, dying, caregiving, and grief, sometimes through conversations but also through creative approaches. We also provide training on Death, Dying, and Bereavement for health and social care professionals.

  • No! Around 10% of our membership are men and this is growing. We also have trans and non-binary members who are doing much-needed work in LGBTQIA+ spaces - an area where people often need extra advocacy at the end-of-life.

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    All media enquiries and requests for articles, interviews etc contact details should be sent to operations@eol-doula.uk