Deb Rawlings and Emma Clare on Death Doulas, death education, the language we use around death and dying, emotional labour in deathcare, Covid-19 and doing death differently!

The Death Studies Podcast

In this episode, hear Deb Rawlings and Emma Clare on Death Doulas, death education, the language we use around death and dying, and doing death differently!

Who is Deb?

Deb Rawlings is a Senior Lecturer in postgraduate palliative care at Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia. With a background in palliative care nursing, Deb is an academic/researcher with an interest in the Death Doula role. She was an author and moderator on the successful Dying2Learn MOOC. Deb is Co-Lead Investigator on the End-of-Life Essentials project funded by the Australian Department of health which aims to support health professional working in acute hospitals. The End-of-life essentials website can be accessed here.

You can follow Deb on Twitter @deb_rawlings

The Conversation article we mention in the podcast is titled ‘Passed away, kicked the bucket, pushing up daisies – the many ways we don’t talk about death’ and can be accessed here. You can download the corresponding journal article here.

Some of her death doula articles as discussed on the podcast are:

Rawlings, Litster, Miller-Lewis, Tieman, Swetenham. End-of-Life Doulas: A qualitative analysis of interviews with Australian and International death doulas on their role. Health Soc Care Community. 2020;00:1–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13120

Rawlings, Litster, Miller-Lewis, Tieman, Swetenham. The voices of death doulas about their role in end of life care. Health SocCare Community. 2020;28(1):12‐21. doi:10.1111/hsc.12833

Rawlings D, Tieman J, Miller‐Lewis L, Swetenham K. (2018) What role do Death Doulas play in end‐of‐life care? A systematic review. Health Soc Care Community. 2019;27(3):e82‐e94. doi:10.1111/hsc.12660

Who is Emma?

Emma Clare is a Health Psychology PhD researcher and Director of End of Life Doula UK. Based in Yorkshire, she describes herself as an activist and nature lover with a passion for bringing death and dying out of hospitals and back into compassionate communities wherever possible. Emma's current research is focused on supporting individuals (both professionals and the public) to develop death competency – our skills and capabilities in dealing with death and dying.

You can follow Emma on Twitter @emmacclare

How do I cite the episode in my research and reading lists?

To cite Emma in this episode, you can use the following citation:

Clare, E. (2021) Interview on The Death Studies Podcast hosted by Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. Published 15 November 2021. Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com, DOI: https:doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.17012624

To cite Deb in this episode, you can use the following citation:

Rawlings, D. (2021) Interview on The Death Studies Podcast hosted by Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. Published 15 November 2021. Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com, DOI: https:doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.17012624

What next?

Check out more episodes or find out more about the hosts! Got a question? Get in touch.