Everyone dies. End-of-life doulas can help us process it

Ryan House is one of three pediatric hospice homes in the United States and provides respite, palliative care and hospice to children with life-limiting illnesses. Staff at Ryan House focus on creating positive experiences and memories, while simultaneously supporting family members and connecting them with other families that share in their experiences. To date, Ryan House has helped more than 1,000 children and their families.

Worker-owned home-care cooperatives are emerging as an alternative to the for-profit agencies that dominate America's direct-care sector. In these cooperatives, professional caregivers earn an average of $2 more per hour than the industry standard, share in business decision-making, and stay on the job at nearly double the rate of workers at traditional agencies. Patients also stay with co-op agencies twice as long, suggesting higher satisfaction and quality of care.

Amid high rates of breast and cervical cancer, Rays of Hope Hospice expanded beyond traditional end-of-life care to include cancer prevention services, providing cervical and breast cancer screenings in rural areas, on-site treatment for precancerous lesions, community education on HPV vaccines, and vaccination distribution to young girls. Since launching its efforts in 2018, the organization has conducted nearly 29,000 cancer screenings for cervical and breast cancer and has helped vaccinate more than 47,000 girls against HPV. The story was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center.

The INN Between is a hospice center for people who are homeless, ensuring those who are terminally ill and unhoused don’t die alone or on the streets. The building first opened in 2015, providing palliative care, food, medication, a bed and community to those who need it most. Since opening, the center has supported 122 people through their final moments.

The Advanced Illness Care Program was founded within local Black churches and offers free, individualized support for people with advanced illnesses and their caregivers, helping them navigate various life and health issues and plan for end-of-life care. Since starting in 2015, the AICP has helped more than 1,600 patients, the majority of which are Black, and 55% of them have gone on to complete advance directives for end-of-life care.

The Veterans Health Administration's Caregiver Support Program offers resources to family caregivers looking after veterans, including a monthly stipend, medical services, counseling and mental health care, respite care and coverage for travel expenses. The Program launched in 2011 and by 2014 about 15,600 caregivers had been approved for support — greatly exceeding the Program’s original estimate of 4,000 people.

Mongolia, under the influence of Dr. Odontuya Davaasuren, has become very advanced in its palliative care. Patients are given full information about their diagnosis, are provided with the proper pain medications, families are involved and guided and spiritual considerations are included creating a better system of care.

Various programs and organizations, like Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and Grandparents Parenting Again, are helping seniors navigate and understand kinship care, providing them with guidance and support to transition to caring for loved ones.

InSHAPE provides access to tailored health and fitness programs for people living with serious mental illnesses, helping them quit drinking and smoking, learn about nutrition and build a sense of community through gym memberships and workout groups. InSHAPE has been operating for 20 years, and studies show 60% of participants have clinically significant improvements in their physical health after a year in the program.

Community paramedicine programs have been in existence for years but are just recently gaining popularity as a means of letting paramedics act less like crisis managers and more like health counselors. Initially designed to "decrease emergency department utilization, save health care dollars and improve patient outcomes," the program flags frequent 911 callers and prompts a conversation between the paramedic and patient about joining the mobile healthcare program.