You should be provided the opportunity to be heard, your wishes and preferences noted, and wherever possible your instructions followed. We believe that people have the right to decide what support they want at the end of their life. There is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to life-limiting illness and end of life. We are just as much individuals at the completion of our lives as we have been our entire life. Life should be lived right until the end and our individuality doesn’t disappear with our last breath. End of life doulas can support you to uncover, plan for and navigate your end of life or support you and your family to work through any end of life challenges that may arise.
Hello, I’m Julie Fletcher and I’m the founder of Doula Connections. I discovered this beautiful role in 2020. I completed my training through Preparing The Way and decided that being an end of life doula was definitely for me. I have had a very long career in nursing, education and management and I’ve been a business owner for many years. I could see that this very important role that needs to be brought to the people. We deserve to be empowered at the end of life and I believe that people need to know that this support is available to them and what is possible for them in regard to choices and options.
Most people want something different, something individual and personal. We want to be heard. We want to know our options. We want information. We want connection. We want support. We want to know the truth. We may want to feel empowered and have input into our own end of life.
To me life is a gift and I want to live it with joy, happiness and fulfilment. When it’s my time to leave this world, I want to know that those around me are aware of what’s important to me and that they will do their best to meet my wishes.