Death doulas: a scoping review

Abstract

Introduction: The professional death doula is considered a supportive collaborator, whose goal is to improve the quality of death in the process of terminality of patients, to provide a ‘good death’. Objective: The objective of the study is to map the scientific evidence on the roles of death doulas in the terminality of life. Materials and Methods: This is a scoping review conducted in the databases CINHAL, EMBASE, WOS, PUBMED and LILACS using health descriptors connected by the Boolean operands AND and OR in the time frame between 2000 and 2021. Results: Of the 467 articles found, only 11 were part of the final sample. Among the diversity and flexibility of roles, professional doulas perform tasks, services and provide practical and non-clinical care throughout the dying, death, postmortem and bereavement process of patients and their families, as well as promote death education, considering the biopsychosocial and spiritual dimensions of human care. Possible barriers in the death doula movement include the inconsistency in existing training programs and the absence of a regulatory body for the supervision of practice and the standardization of fees. Discussion: The work of death doulas focuses on full presence and attention, sensitive, compassionate listening, and centering on the person in the process of terminality, respecting their wishes and honoring their biography. Conclusion: Death doulas can augment existing end-of-life care services by providing holistic and personalized care services across health care settings, however, there is a need for more rigorous studies to explore health professionals’ perceptions of this role and investigate clinical outcomes among dying people and their families.