The Ethical Value of Hospice Narrative Doulas in the Context of Great Health / 中国医学伦理学

ABSTRACT

Death is the last transitional rite in the life process. Whether for the life state, family ethics or social relations of both the dead or the living, death indicates a major change and hides a certain crisis. The bio-health narrative concept puts forward that any transitional rite of life process requires narrative intervention and narrative care, as does death. Under the guidance of the concept, the profession of narrative death-doula came into being. Using the narrative concept as a framework, hospice narrative doulas provide emotional, physical, mental support to the terminal stage subjects and their families by accompanying the dying at close range, listening to their life stories, helping them record and dictate their autobiographies, reconstructing and repairing interpersonal narrative connections, and even planning funeral details with the dying. The death narrative doulas will create a personalized and humanized ritual and process around death, restore the spirituality and humanity which has been lost in the modern medical context to death itself.