End-of-Life Care
Community Support
End-of-life can look very different for each individual. What is important is to have open conversation and ask yourself the following question...
"If you were to plan your special day, what would that look like?".
Keeping mind while reflecting that end-of-life care is a process whereby you can move through a series of steps such as the following:
• Respite
• Pre-planning
• Legacy work
• Honouring the choice of being home
• Planning for cremation or burial
• End-of-life ceremony
End-of-life Doula
End-of-life doulas empower, educate and encourage people and their families to be involved in making decisions. A death doula guides a person during the dying process by pre-planning, legacy work, vigil as well as supporting the family. This support is specific to that person's needs, beliefs, and desires. Having a conversation or making a plan when you are healthy, is encouraged by doulas so that the care received at the end of life is appropriate and aligned with your wishes.
Home Funerals
Having your family member’s body at home before cremation and/or burial allows relatives and friends to mourn with you. You can remember the person together, share your grief, and support each other. A home viewing is an opportunity to find closure after a loved one has passed.
The following tasks are all part of a home funeral:
•Perform a sacred ceremonial bath and dress the body
•Make the necessary arrangements to move the body
•Organize the details of the service
•Arrange for a casket or shroud
•Arrange for burial or cremation
•Bridge the gap between home and funeral arrangement
Continuity/Respite Care
Respite care involves short term or temporary care of the sick or disabled from a few hours to more long-term, designed to provide relief to the regular caregiver or family. Respite care can include the following:
• meal preparation
• laundry
• small housekeeping duties
• accompanying loved ones to appointments
• overnight relief
Ceremonial Tributes
Smudging is an ancient ceremony in which you burn sacred plants such as sage, to allow the smoke to clear and bless a space. The goal of smudging is to make a place feel more at peace. Smudging is a way to honour your space and create a more supportive and tranquil environment.
• utilizing your values and rituals
• smudging and clearing
• honouring your loved one through sacred ceremony
• end-of-life celebration
• ceremonial drumming
Hospice Support
Community care, emotional support, and practical assistance to people of all ages and their families facing end-of-life, through compassionate support, sacred ceremony and drumming.