Tecendo amorosidade em histórias de vida e de morte: vivências de doulas da morte.

Abstract

Death doulas are people who support, accompany and defend patients in the process of human finitude. The general objective of this research is to investigate the experiences of death doulas in Brazil. This is an exploratory research, of a qualitative nature, carried out with death doulas trained and working in Brazil. The study included 20 doulas, aged between 27 and 68 years, whose training and experience in the practice of doulage of death is four years. From the speeches of the doulas, it was possible to elaborate four thematic categories: Thematic Category 1 - Perception of being-doula of death; Thematic Category 2 – Being a doula of death, which was divided into four subcategories (Subcategory 1 - Area of expertise (Care and Education), Subcategory 2 – Process of acting, Subcategory 3 – Doulating the patient and Subcategory 4 – Doulating family and friends) ; Thematic Category 3 – Difficulties and obstacles faced by death doulas and Thematic Category 4 – Potentialities in being a death doula. In general, it was observed that death doulas are collaborators who use compassionate communication strategies (mindfulness, sensitive listening and embracement) in all stages of death of people who experience human finitude and their families. They serve the entire health care network, especially at home, but also act as facilitators in the process of education for death. They present as difficulties the taboo of death, the lack of professional regulation, which together increase the stigma of the profession. It is considered essential to deepen the view on the work of death doulas, in order to increase the visibility and importance of the profession, in order to break the paradigm of death as a forbidden topic, and open space for a look at dying well.