UNE Online expands course offerings for End-of-Life Doula program
The College of Professional Studies at the University of New England (UNE Online) is expanding its End-of-Life Doula professional certificate program, offering two new modules for those who wish to further enhance their skills and knowledge in providing compassionate, integrated care to patients approaching the end of life.
With the first classes starting Sept. 15, the two new modules — Building a Deathcare Practice and Dementia-Informed Deathcare: Tools for Presence and Practice — build upon UNE’s pioneering End-of-Life Doula professional certification program, first offered in the winter of 2024.
The eight-week, fully online curriculum is designed to be accessible to people with a wide range of experience, educational backgrounds, and interests while building the skills required to deliver informed and supportive care for individuals and their families who are experiencing terminal illness or are nearing the end of life.
The program embodies UNE’s signature model of interprofessional health care education, in which end-of-life doulas closely collaborate with other members of a care team, including medical, spiritual, and psychosocial professionals. UNE is one of just two universities in the U.S. to offer End-of-Life Doula professional certification.
The Building a Deathcare Practice module is designed to support new and experienced death doulas who wish to offer end-of-life care more formally or expand an existing practice. The course honors the belief that death care is community care and centers relationship-building, emotional intelligence, and sustainability.
Participants in the course will explore how values-driven care, advocacy, and relationship-building can form the foundation of a sustainable and impactful death care business. The module would also be appropriate for those who have completed or intend to complete UNE’s online End-of-Life Pet Doula professional certificate program.
The second module on dementia-informed death care is designed for caregivers, existing death doulas, community members, health care workers, and anyone called to support people living with dementia as they approach the end of life. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of dementia’s impact on terminal patients and be equipped with the tools necessary to practice with integrity and heart.
Both new modules are four weeks long and offered fully online. It is recommended that participants first complete the End-of-Life Doula professional certification, though certificate courses can be taken concurrently.
Learn more about UNE’s End-of-Life Doula certificate program, End-of-Life Pet Doula certificate program, or Building a Deathcare Practice and Dementia-Informed Deathcare course modules.