Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
My return guest Suzanne O'Brien is the founder and CEO of Doulagivers Institute and a pioneer in the global Death Doula movement. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her contribution to end-of-life care around the world and the author of the book The Good Death: A Guide for Supporting Your Loved Ones Through the End of Life. She discusses why this moment is right for expanding community education and awareness about end-of-life issues and how learning about death can help us fully live. In addition she describes her upcoming free webinar on "Death Doula Secrets" to mentor doulas on Suzanne's framework for successful death doula business development. Learn more at her website: doulagivers.com
In this episode:
-The evolution of end-of-life care and education over the past 15 years
-How COVID 19 awakened many people to the reality of mortality and exposed gaps in care
-Families are still largely overwhelmed and uneducated about providing care for their loved ones at end of life
-How political and healthcare decision-makers remain poorly informed about end of life issues
-Suzanne's experience of community death care while traveling in Zimbabwe many years ago and how it informed her current work
-Why broader cultural change around death and dying requires mass education in our communities
-We need to help people with their fear of death through education if we want to see more change
-Options for the management of suffering at the end of life, including terminal sedation, are not fully understood by most people
-Death is the greatest teacher about how to live
-The importance of gratitude and presence for bringing meaning to life
🍃 Subscribe to my email list: eepurl.com/ExfLL
🍂 Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop: bookshop.org/lists/books-by-karen-wyatt-md and Indiebound:
7 Lessons for Living from the Dying : indiebound.org/book/9781786783110
The Journey from Ego to Soul: indiebound.org/book/9780982685563
🍃 Subscribe to this podcast on
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/end-of-life-university/id1033282990
Google: podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZXNzb25zZnJvbWR5aW5nLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vZmVlZC8
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/7bdr4odBlaaDy8NoJhcFsL
iHeart Radio: iheart.com/podcast/256-end-of-life-university-31099550
Stitcher Radio: stitcher.com/show/endoflife-university
🍂 Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past: eolupodcast.com/series
🍃 Join the team at my Patreon page patreon.com/eolu and get access to the EOLU mug: “Mind if we talk about death?” (only Patrons can purchase it). PLUS get our new bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!
🍂 Intro Music Credit:
"Bright Wish" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
My return guest Suzanne O'Brien is the founder and CEO of Doulagivers Institute and a pioneer in the global Death Doula movement. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her contribution to end-of-life care around the world and the author of the book The Good Death: A Guide for Supporting Your Loved Ones Through the End of Life. She discusses why this moment is right for expanding community education and awareness about end-of-life issues and how learning about death can help us fully live. In addition she describes her upcoming free webinar on "Death Doula Secrets" to mentor doulas on Suzanne's framework for successful death doula business development. Learn more at her website: doulagivers.com
In this episode:
-The evolution of end-of-life care and education over the past 15 years
-How COVID 19 awakened many people to the reality of mortality and exposed gaps in care
-Families are still largely overwhelmed and uneducated about providing care for their loved ones at end of life
-How political and healthcare decision-makers remain poorly informed about end of life issues
-Suzanne's experience of community death care while traveling in Zimbabwe many years ago and how it informed her current work
-Why broader cultural change around death and dying requires mass education in our communities
-We need to help people with their fear of death through education if we want to see more change
-Options for the management of suffering at the end of life, including terminal sedation, are not fully understood by most people
-Death is the greatest teacher about how to live
-The importance of gratitude and presence for bringing meaning to life
🍃 Subscribe to my email list: eepurl.com/ExfLL
🍂 Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop: bookshop.org/lists/books-by-karen-wyatt-md and Indiebound:
7 Lessons for Living from the Dying : indiebound.org/book/9781786783110
The Journey from Ego to Soul: indiebound.org/book/9780982685563
🍃 Subscribe to this podcast on
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/end-of-life-university/id1033282990
Google: podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9sZXNzb25zZnJvbWR5aW5nLndvcmRwcmVzcy5jb20vZmVlZC8
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/7bdr4odBlaaDy8NoJhcFsL
iHeart Radio: iheart.com/podcast/256-end-of-life-university-31099550
Stitcher Radio: stitcher.com/show/endoflife-university
🍂 Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past: eolupodcast.com/series
🍃 Join the team at my Patreon page patreon.com/eolu and get access to the EOLU mug: “Mind if we talk about death?” (only Patrons can purchase it). PLUS get our new bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!
🍂 Intro Music Credit:
"Bright Wish" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
