MONTEIRO, M. H. L.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/7016014554627279; MONTEIRO, Maria Heloyse de Lima.
Résumé:
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.