Fall is in the air, and the International Doula Life Movement Tree of Life Conference is getting closer and closer!
Over the past several weeks we have taken time to spotlight many of the speakers we are looking forward to having with us at the conference, all with their own unique specialties and points of view to give insight into different aspects of doula work.
This week, we want to focus on a couple of people whose work is about providing resources for doulas and other folks in end of life care and the death industry.
Dr. Daniel J Westcott is a biological anthropologist who teaches at Texas State University. He is well-versed in forensic methods and will be speaking with us about the ever-growing number of options for body disposal, to help us be as informed as possible about all the options available to us and our clients. From his bio:
I am a biological anthropologists with a research focus on developing and testing forensic anthropological methods for reconstructing biological profiles, trauma patterns, and the post mortem interval. I also use long bone biomechanics to reconstruct activity patterns and behavior in past populations, and test hypotheses regarding changes in human skeletal morphology due to evolutionary and secular forces. I am also a dedicated teacher and mentor with experience directing undergraduate and graduate (MA, MS, PhD) students.
We will also be hearing from Sam Madison, co-founder and COO of Thanacare, a digital tool designed to streamline the advance care planning process and generally simplify all the information a doula has to keep track of! Thanacare and IDLM have been working together for some time now, so it will be an honor and a pleasure to have Sam there to talk to us. From his bio:
Sam Madison is a co-founder and COO of Thanacare where he is dedicated to supporting end-of-life doulas with technology to enable modern advance care planning and continued professionalization. Sam lost his mother when he was a child and that experience fuels his passion for creating patient-centric solutions to improve how we die. Partnering with innovative end-of-life doulas strengthens Thanacare’s mission to scale a more graceful death for all.
Both of these gentleman do work that can make a big difference to end of life doulas and our clients. We are so pleased to be able to work with them, to hear what they have to say, and to meet them face to face at the upcoming Tree of Life Conference!
