Elaine is currently working her Encore Career as an End-of-Life Doula, supporting individuals and families as they navigate the final chapter of life. She helps clients explore what comfort, dignity, and peace mean to them, and develop practical, values-based plans for the time ahead.

Elaine is also a certified Life Celebrant, honoured to plan and preside over personalized funerals and celebrations of life that reflect the essence and legacy of the person being remembered.

Her work is informed by many years as an Emergency RN and a career in clinical research, including oncology. These experiences shaped her ability to listen carefully, communicate clearly, and remain steady during times of uncertainty and grief.

As incoming President for 2026–2028, Elaine believes our role as a board is to make things better, not perfect. Together we will continue building a strong, thoughtful community of doulas committed to learning, supporting one another, and helping shape compassionate end-of-life care in Canada.

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An important part of the work we do at the End of Life Doula Association is to share the word about End of Life Doulas. EOLDAC co-founder Sarah Muxlow sat down with the team at Vancouver Co-op Radio’s Talk Aging show in November 2021 to help bring awareness to the support that an End of Life Doula offers their community. You can listen to the interview here.

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The acronym “2SLGBTQ” stands for Two-Spirit (2S), lesbian (L), gay (G), bisexual (B), transgender (T), queer (Q). The plus sign represents other sexual identities, such as pansexual or asexual.

If you are working with a client or family who are part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, it’s important to use proper pronouns. The UC Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center has published a helpful Guide To Pronouns for Allies.  They also offer comprehensive LGBTQIA Ally Tips which help to improve support, respect and inclusiveness of everyone.

Canadian Virtual Hospice: Proud, Prepared, and Protected

Proud, Prepared, and Protected is a collection of online resources to assist people who identify as 2SLGBTQ+ to access and receive inclusive, respectful care. These resources were developed by people who identify as Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ and more than 40 organizations and Canadian Virtual Hospice to fill a national gap. This information is also helpful for allies, people working in healthcare and education and communities.

We can’t say enough about what a great resource this is. It includes information on the Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ Canadian Healthcare Bill of Rights and Advance Care Planning, as well as helpful videos and articles. Canadian Virtual Hospice also published a Literature Review & Environmental Scan of The 2SLGBTQ+ Population and Palliative and End of Life Care report in 2019 that aims to identify the information and support needs of caregivers 2SLGBTQ+ communities.

The New Yorker Documentary Documenting Death

In “Documenting Death,” a couple who work in palliative care take to social media to share their experiences after one of them receives a terminal diagnosis. The short documentary tells the story of Kim Acquaviva and her wife, Kathy Brandt, who died of cancer in 2019, at the age of fifty-four. Brandt was a hospice and palliative-care consultant and an advocate for high-quality end-of-life care; when she received her diagnosis, she and Acquaviva, a professor of nursing at the University of Virginia and an expert in end-of-life issues for LGBTQ individuals and their families, decided to document Brandt’s decline, and their family’s last days together, through frank and frequent social-media posts.

LGBTQ-Inclusive Hospice and Palliative Care: A Practical Guide

This is the handbook for hospice and palliative care professionals looking to enhance their care delivery or their programs with LGBTQ-inclusive care. Anchored in the evidence, extensively referenced, and written in clear, easy-to-understand language, LGBTQ-Inclusive Hospice and Palliative Care provides clear, actionable strategies for hospice and palliative physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors, and chaplains.

Author Kimberly Acquaviva (yes, that’s the same Kim Acquaviva from Documenting Death) is a tenured faculty member at the George Washington University School of Nursing. She is a Certified Sexuality Educator (CSE) through AASECT (American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists).

Find it at Chapters and Chapters.

SFU Gerontology Research Centre: LGBT End-of-Life Conversations

SFU’s LGBT End-of-Life Conversations site offers an in-depth resource centre for end-of-life issues called LGBT End-of-Life Conversations, including an extensive list of regional resources specific to cities and provinces across Canada. The “Hiding who I am – the reality of end-of-life care for LGBT people” report explores key end-of-life issues facing the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Canada. Well worth reading.

@transdeathcare on Instagram

Please get in touch if you have any other resources to share. Thanks!

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As originally published in the In Seine Newspaper on page 2 (Manitoba)

Death is not typically something we are dying to do. This includes the daunting tasks of preparing for this event. Components such as estate planning, and pre-need funeral arrangements are commonplace in our society, but with the innovations of medical technology comes the responsibility to ensure that wishes for our medical care are documented. Advance Care Planning focuses on this preparation. In Manitoba the document is a Health Care Directive and you must be 16 years of age. It is a document best written when one is healthy and able to make decisions to guide health care teams on personal requests for medical or non-medical care when you are specifically unable to speak for yourself. You may name up to two proxies or designates to be consulted with regarding your decisions. It is advised to engage in detailed conversations with your family and proxies regarding specific wishes and your guiding beliefs and values that make your life worth living. It is imperative to be as specific as possible as to which treatments and procedures are acceptable and which are not. This will ultimately direct caregivers in what may be end-of-life care. While it is impossible to include every medical scenario, your directive can clearly speak to your wishes when you cannot speak for yourself. Ensure to involve your doctor or nurse practitioner and although it is not necessary to consult a lawyer, you may wish to do this. It is critical to make sure that your plan is accessible. Provide copies to your proxies, health care team, leave a copy where it would be available to first responders and take copies with you when travelling. Lastly, review this document every three years or anytime circumstances change that may affect prior decisions. A copy of the Manitoba Health Care Directive form can be downloaded at Health Care Directive (Living Will) gov.mb.ca). Written by Elizebeth Kischook, End of Life Doula www.yoursinlifeanddeath.ca

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End of Life Doulas Jennifer Mallmes and Janine Jordison share the five steps of advance care planning and explore the value an End of Life Doula can add when facilitating an advance care plan. Get prepared with the tools you need to start the conversation on National Advance Care Planning Day.

Download ACP Day Presentation Recording

If you are an End of Life Doula and would like to use the PowerPoint presentation in your work with clients, you are welcome to download the Advance Care Planning PowerPoint Presentation and its accompanying Presentation Discussion Point Guide. Tip: make sure you view the presentation in ‘slide show’ mode for the full audio and video experience.

Need some guidance on Advance Care Planning?

If you would like an End of Life Doula to educate and guide you in your Advance Care Planning process, please see our Membership Roster to find a Doula that’s right for you.

Find a Doula

Here are some helpful resources on Advance Care Planning in Canada:

Wish Lists Video with Andrew Saunderson from Fraser Health

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