Cleveland State Community College Workforce Development will provide an End-of-Life Doula (EOLD) program starting May 20. The six-week virtual training will meet online Wednesdays, 6-8 p.m. and include interactive components of fieldwork and guided discussions along with lectures. Alexis Hughes, an EOLD, will be the instructor for the program.
What is an EOLD? The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) describes an EOLD as “a non-medical professional who provides support to people facing a terminal illness or death, and their loved ones.” Ms.
Hughes adds that an EOLD is “a guide and a helping hand on a path into the unknown for people who are afraid. We are more of a concierge who goes between the family, the person who is dying, hospice, the chaplain and the doctors; we advocate for the best care of the person who is dying. In addition to a hospice team, we are extra support for everyone involved.”
Many EOLDs are practicing professionals such as home health caregivers, nurses, social workers or therapists who work in the palliative or elder care area. These professionals add the EOLD training to their portfolio to enrich their practice.
“All employed in the helping professions would benefit from specialized training in end-of-life care,” said Dr. Melodee Alexander, associate professor of psychology. “While EOLD professionals work with clients of all ages, the aging population is projected to increase to approximately 82 million Americans by 2050 (Mather and Scommegna, 2024, Population Reference Bureau). Elders are living and working longer, leading to many entering a caregiving role. An EOLD serves by providing objectivity to the many choices that must be made during a time of great emotional sorrow.”
Ms. Hughes lost her mother 10 years ago. She was thrust into a position of handling all the arrangements in order to give her father space to grieve. Later, she discovered a presentation by Alua Arthur who started Going with Grace, an EOLD program. “If we had someone like this when we were in the depths of our grief, we would have all come out of it much better,” said Ms. Hughes. “We needed a guide to help us navigate everything; it is really hard to simultaneously grieve and take care of all the details.”
Ms. Hughes has a bachelor’s degree from Valdosta State University in Georgia and a master’s degree in strategic leadership from Quantic School of Business & Technology in Washington DC. She has been an EOLD for six years and serves on the board of directors for the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA), a national guild for the profession.
Combining resources from her experience and the classes that she has taken, Ms. Hughes has designed a cohesive course for the new Workforce Development program. The final exam for the training will be the NEDA End-of-Life Doula proficiency exam so that students have the opportunity to earn the NEDA professional badge.
“We are all going to die and nobody talks about it,” said Ms. Hughes. “You spend your whole life being afraid of dying, but it doesn’t keep you from dying. The more professionals that we can have in this space to alleviate that fear, the better quality of life that everyone will have.”
Register online for the course at http://mycs.cc/EOLDoula. The deadline to register is May 6. For more information, contact Cleveland State Workforce Development at workforce@clevelandstatecc.edu or 423-614-8793.