Describing the end-of-life doula role and practices of care: perspectives from four countries.

We speculate that the end-of-life doula role is potentially experiencing common developmental antecedents similar to other now-professionalized forms of caregiving. Our findings contribute substantial new information to the small body of empirical research about the end-of-life doula role and practices, provide critical firsthand insight as the movement develops, and are the first research to explore end-of-life doulas from a comparative international perspective.