Gentle Light Services
Compassionate support before, during, and alongside hospice care.
Gentle Light provides non-medical education, emotional support, advocacy, companionship, and practical guidance for individuals of all ages and families facing serious illness or the end of life. Every service is shaped around the person’s wishes, dignity, individuality, emotions, and spirituality.
What an End-of-Life Doula Provides
Services Designed Around the Person and Family
Pre-Hospice Consultation
For individuals and families who need time, clarity, and support before a crisis or before hospice begins.
- Explore the transition from curative treatment to comfort-focused care
- Discuss goals, values, concerns, and end-of-life wishes
- Prepare questions for physicians, palliative care, or hospice teams
- Receive guidance using resources such as Five Wishes and The Conversation Project
- Understand hospice earlier, without pressure or guilt
Hospice Liaison & Advocacy
Additional non-medical support that complements hospice and helps families communicate with greater confidence.
- Bridge communication among the patient, family, hospice, and medical team
- Help families organize questions and report changes or concerns
- Support the patient’s expressed wishes and priorities
- Explain what families may expect during the dying process
- Offer emotional, social, and spiritual support alongside clinical care
Family & Caregiver Guidance
Steady education and emotional support for the people caring for someone with serious or terminal illness.
- Help caregivers understand what may be changing
- Provide a calm place to process fear, grief, uncertainty, and difficult decisions
- Encourage communication with the hospice or medical team
- Model how to hold peaceful, respectful space
- Support caregivers in identifying limits, boundaries, and their own need for rest
Respite & Bedside Companionship
Non-medical companionship so caregivers can step away briefly while their loved one remains supported.
- Quiet bedside presence and companionship
- Reading, music, gentle conversation, or silence based on the person’s preference
- Support for creating a calm and meaningful environment
- Time for caregivers to rest, attend appointments, or care for themselves
- Limited daytime hours; overnight services are not available
Education, Presentations & Training
Approachable education for families, caregivers, volunteers, libraries, senior centers, churches, and community organizations.
- Understanding hospice before a crisis
- Preparing for serious illness and end-of-life conversations
- What to expect physically and emotionally near the end of life
- Holding space, listening, and creating a peaceful environment
- Caregiver and volunteer education, including boundaries and compassion fatigue
How Support Begins
Listen First
Clarify Needs
Together, you identify immediate concerns, questions, wishes, and the kind of support that feels appropriate.
Support the Plan
Adapt With Care
Clear, Compassionate Role Boundaries
Gentle Light Can
- Provide non-medical education and guidance
- Help families understand care options and prepare questions
- Offer emotional, social, and spiritual support
- Support communication and advocacy
- Provide companionship, respite, and legacy work
- Complement hospice and professional medical care
Gentle Light Does Not
- Provide medical care or clinical treatment
- Replace hospice, physicians, nurses, social workers, or clergy
- Administer medication or provide nursing procedures
- Provide bathing, personal care, or overnight caregiving
- Give medical, legal, or financial advice
- Guarantee a particular outcome or experience
