Learn about innovative educational programs for medical students and the impact they are having.

My special guest Dr. Kevin Dieter is a family medicine and hospice and palliative care physician who helped to develop the nationally recognized palliative care curriculum at Northeast Ohio Medical University. He created a virtual learning module called “Being with Dying” for medical and pharmacy students to teach them what they need to know to be at the bedside of a dying patient. He discusses the course he offers, including training healthcare providers. Learn more from his website:

walking-home.com

Watch on YouTube

Get the booklet: Facing Death with Grace

Listen here:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, and to @yogat3ch for buying me a coffee and James Schultz who made a donation on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

Learn about an exciting new training to become a Death Literacy Educator and teach in your community.

My return guest Francesca Lynn Arnoldy is a doula and a published researcher with the Vermont Conversation Lab and she runs a program for Death Literacy Educators. She is the author of The Death Doula’s Guide to Living Fully and Dying Prepared, My Death Journal, The Map of Memory Lane, and Cultivating the Doula Heart. Today she discusses the importance of training educators who can help our communities grow in knowledge, understanding, and awareness of death. Learn more at her website:

francescalynnarnoldy.com

Get Francesca’s books

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my newest patron Stephanie Heilker, and to Curtis Robertson who made a donation on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

Learn about Dr. Ira Byock’s strategic vision for approaching the major issues facing hospice and palliative care.

My guest Dr. Ira Byock is a leading palliative care physician, author, and public advocate for improving care through the end of life. He is the author of the books Dying Well, The Four Things that Matter Most, and The Best Care Possible. He discusses his recent white paper “A Strategic Path Forward for Hospice and Palliative Care” and his 4-point approach for dealing with the current issues facing end-of-life care in the U.S. Learn more at his website and read the paper below:

irabyock.org

Read the Paper here

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, and to Frank Voelker and Katie Daco who made donations on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

Learn about a helpful book with resources for dementia caregivers.

My guest Dr. Beverly Thorn is dual trained in the neurosciences and clinical psychology. She is the author of hundreds of articles, two books, and four workbooks on coping with chronic illness. She has also been trained as an end-of-life doula and served as her husband’s caregiver through his dementia illness and at the end of his life. She is the author of the newly published book Before I Lose My Own Mind: Navigating Life as a Dementia Caregiver. Learn more at her website:

drbeverlythorn.com

Get the book here

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, and to everyone who bought me a coffee or donated on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

Listen to an important discussion about how spiritually-focused people can speak up about social justice issues and work toward community healing.

In this episode I’m sharing with you part of the recent workshop on Sacred Activism I hosted with Terri Daniel and Brian Smith. Terri is an inter-spiritual hospice chaplain and end-of-life educator certified in death, dying and bereavement by the Association of Death Education and Counseling and in family-focused grief therapy by The Portland Institute. Terri is the founder of The Conference on Death, Grief and Belief and the author of four books on death and grief. Brian is a certified grief educator, author and speaker. He is the host of the podcast Grief 2 Growth and a book by the same name. Learn more about Terri and Brian at their websites:

deathgriefandbelief.com

grief2growth.com

Register for conference here

Listen here:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, and to everyone who bought me a coffee or donated on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

Learn about the specialty of pediatric palliative care and how one doctor has benefitted from his relationship with his seriously ill patients.

My guest Dr. Bob Macauley is one of only a few hundred pediatricians in the U.S. specializing in palliative care for children with life-threatening illness. Uniquely Dr. Macauley attended both divinity school and medical school at the same time, which gives him a spiritual perspective on palliative care as well. He is the author of the recently published book Because I Knew You: How Some Remarkable Sick Kids Healed a Doctor’s Soul. Learn more at his website:

robertmacauley.com

Get the book here

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, and thank you to Yoshimi Kanagawa for buying me 5 coffees and to Kathleen Cheetham who made a donation on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

Learn how death doulas are improving end-of-life care in our medical system by tending to things that often get ignored.

In this episode, I’m joined by Kacie Gikonyo, founder of The Death Doula Collective and Death Doula School. Drawing on more than a decade of nursing experience, Kacie shares how death doulas are helping to transform end-of-life care by addressing the emotional, spiritual, and relational needs that often go unmet by the medical system. We discuss the gaps in Western medical care, the shifts needed in how we approach dying, and how death doulas are bridging the divide with presence, advocacy, and compassion. Learn more at her website:

deathdoulakacie.com

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, and to everyone who bought me a coffee or donated on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

Learn about making beautiful memorial art as way of navigating grief and honoring loved ones.

My guest Ian McCartor is a hospice nurse, musician, and founder of The Ash Rose, a project that transforms the ashes of loved ones into beautiful rose-shaped keepsakes. In this episode, Ian shares how his work helps individuals navigate grief by creating tangible symbols of remembrance and healing. Ian shares his journey from hospice care to creating tangible symbols of remembrance, highlighting how art and creativity can aid in the grieving process. He delves into the inspiration behind The Ash Rose, the impact it has had on individuals coping with loss, and the broader implications of integrating beauty into end-of-life rituals. Learn more at his website:

theashrose.org

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

“Out of the ashes, something beautiful can still grow.”

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, and to Barbara Walker for donating on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

Learn about breaking taboos around talking about death through a unique death education program in Australia.

My guest Samantha Waite is the quirky founding director of Taboo Education who works with individuals and groups in local, national (Australia) and international communities to resolve our taboo and confusion in talking about death. She is a long-time performing arts enthusiast as well as a trained counselor and youth worker with training in thanatology, psychotherapy and public health. She discusses some of the cultural differences around death and dying between the US and Australia and what Australia is doing right in terms of end-of-life care. Learn more at her website:

tabooeducation.com

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, and to Kristina Oswath, Christine Maleck, and Patricia Cates for donating on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

Learn how finding just one little thing to be thankful for every day can help us with grief.

My guest Kelly Buckley is the author of the book and founder of the movement called Just One Little Thing that has a loyal following worldwide. She is a registered nurse who now nurtures other souls who are dealing with grief. Her own story of journeying from the depths of grief by clinging to gratitude has inspired tens of thousands of people and her writings have been featured on sites such as Maria Shriver, the Huffington Post, Open to Hope, and Hello Grief. Learn more about her work at her website:

kellybuckley.com

Get the book here

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, and to Erin Collins and Karen Johnston for donating on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.