Join Patty Burgess, CEOLS, APCE, President of Possibility, Teaching Transitions - Doing Death Differently for a discussion about the origins of the EOL doula movement, the current model of care and how some hospices are integrating EOL doulas.

While spending every day from diagnosis to death with a dear friend, Patty was introduced to the beauty and benefits of hospice. After becoming a hospice volunteer, volunteer trainer and community educator for hospices agencies in Atlanta and Philadelphia, she started an end-of-life training company.   

Her company Teaching Transitions - Doing Death Differently, trains hospice volunteers, staff, and caregivers across the county, ranging from small to large multi-site hospice organizations. Doing Death Differently, a sister site trains end-of-life doulas, or “death doulas” - a new, emerging non-medical profession supporting those facing the end of life (EOL) and their loved ones. 

Patty was one of seven (7) original founders of NEDA, the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance in 2018, a membership organization supporting end-of-life doulas.  What began as an idea, now supports over 1000 members.  She was also chosen as one of the founding members of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) End-of-Life Doula Council, which was also created in 2018. Its development was in response to hospice agencies' growing curiosity, concern, and interest in this developing field.  The mission of the EOL Doula Council is to offer education and resources about end-of-life doulas to the NHPCO membership and the general public.   

Patty co-founded Your Voice Directives, a training organization using an innovative, video advance care planning tool that focuses on patient safety and honoring wishes at the end of life.   

She is a well-known national trainer, speaker and educator in end-of-life matters.  Her company has trained over 10,000 volunteers, staff, and end-of-life doulas with her Medicare-compliant online hospice volunteer training program, and her Certified End-of-Life Specialist (CEOLS) training.

Learn more here.