KarunaNews Story

Demand for home health care has skyrocketed since the covid pandemic, and with nearly 1 in 5 Americans expected to be 65 or older by 2030, several groups are helping untrained at-home caregivers learn how to care for dying loved ones. In New Orleans, a nonprofit called Wake is providing community workshops, while the International End of Life Doula Association is training death doulas to be community educators and Compassion & Choices, a national organization that focuses on improving end-of-life care, preparation, and education, offers training that ranges from advanced planning to caring for the dying. The movement to care for people at home has roots in the AIDS epidemic, when some doctors refused to care for AIDS patients and friends started coordinating food delivery, visits, bedside vigils, and even touch circles, said Osha Towers of Compassion & Choices. “I like to look at it as a blueprint for what we can get back to doing now, which is again just prioritizing community care.”