Shifting Deathcare : Tools for a New Paradigm
A Self-Study Online Course created by leaders in the death community on how to facilitate a good death for all.
What is “a good death”? How have you shown up to support others during the end of their lives?
During this self-study course we will explore these questions and more through the lens of privilege, identity, and bias.
Our hope is through this course you will gain a better understanding of some of the challenges that BIPOC face at the end of life, and in the current and historic context of systemic racism that pervades all of our institutions.
We invite you to join us with curiosity and humility — no matter who you are, what your background is, or your experiences up until this moment in life — as we grow our tools to create a new paradigm for deathwork.
Is this course for you?
Shifting Deathcare: Tools for a New Paradigm was created by five Black Women, for anyone showing up in the practice of deathcare in their wholeness to support others in theirs.
* A slight convenience fee will be added to monthly payment plans.
Course curriculum
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1
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Getting Started!
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Meet Your Instructor Alua Arthur
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Welcome Video
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Welcome Video (ASL)
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2
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Meet your Instructor Oceana Sawyer
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Module 1 Video
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Module 1 Video (ASL)
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Module 1 Quiz : What is a Good Death for People on the Margins
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3
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Meet Your Instructor Lashanna Williams
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Module 2 Video
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Module 2 Video (ASL)
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Module 2 Quiz : Words. Language. Impact.
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4
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Meet Your Instructor Joél Simone Anthony
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Module 3 Video
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Module 3 Video pt 1 (ASL)
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Module 3 Video pt 2 (ASL)
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Module 3 Quiz : Approaching BIPOC Death and Grief as a Guest
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5
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Meet Your Instructor Alica Forneret
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Worksheet #1 : What have you learned about your own grief?
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Worksheet #2: Mapping your ecosystem
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Worksheet #3: What kind of support system can you be?
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Module 4 Video
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Module 4 Video (ASL)
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Module 4 Quiz: Understanding the Complexities of Grief
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6
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Conclusion Video
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Conclusion Video (ASL)
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Instructor Information
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Resource List
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Continuing Education Credit Contact Form
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Final Thoughts
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Testimonials
Hear what our students are saying about Shifting Deathcare
“I work in Hospice and this information was great to hear from five woman of color. This course should be taken by all Hospice workers. Thank you so much.”
Terrie
“Outstanding communal effort to share knowledge and wisdom! These five wisdom keepers (Alua Arthur, Oceana Sawyer, Lashanna Williams, Joe'l Simone Anthony, Alica Forneret) came together in our time of collective need and brought forth an outpouring of knowledge and wisdom forged in the fires of their personal experience. I feel so honored to be a recipient of the love and respect with which they shared these teachings. I gained important tools of self-reflection and new perspectives that I will take with me into the birthing of my own service, as a guest, to the dying, the dead, and those in grief. Thank you, thank you Beautiful Women!”
Elizabeth
“I had the privilege and pleasure of learning from Alua Arthur, Oceana Sawyer, Lashanna Williams, Joe’l Simone Anthony, and Alicia Forneret in this course. I learned so much about implicit bias across all aspects of death care and learned how to identify the way my own privilege has impacted the care I provide. This course is a well-crafted starting point for me to continue doing the work of decolonizing how I approach how I speak and how I listen in my work and at home.”
Anna
“Multidimensional training with much to offer! I trained as a death doula (although I've never practiced), several years ago, and found a lack of conversation about structural racism in end of life care, and in deaths themselves, in death care spaces particularly unnerving. I was so excited to see that Going with Grace was offering "Shifting Deathcare: Tools for a New Paradigm," because I recognize how pervasive anti-Blackness is in impacting how Black Americans die and the kind of care they experience and feel they can advocate for while dying. I loved learning about the radicalization of a "good death" (i.e. its continued inaccessibility to many), the importance of language for nonjudgmental support, disenfranchised grief and histories/practices of homegoing rituals in black communities, and how to provide informed and prepared grief support. As a Black doula (birth/perinatal bereavement/abortion) without a lot of experience in end of life care that primarily supports adults at the end of their lives and their families, I learned a lot and am eager to learn more! ”
Kelsey
“Learning about the importance of funeralization and how (as a funeral professional myself) to approach BIPOC grief and funeral arrangements as a guest is a highly valuable lesson. I was grateful for the history of homegoings, how that history connects to modern tradition, and the insight that current events affect how BIPOC experience not just life but death/loss, too, and that it can inform perception and feeling even if the family you're working with didn't necessarily experience a traumatic/violent death. I also appreciated looking at embalming/restorative art with the removal of a privileged view. It was a nice reminder that these things can be powerful and healing tools. Thank you Joél! ”
Morgan
“I am so glad I took this course, It was really an eye opening for me. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.”
Lia
Let's Get Started
Explore your willingness to learn, grow and change as we build a new paradigm for deathwork.
Instructors
Alua Arthur
Founder, Going with Grace
Alua Arthur is a death doula, recovering attorney, and the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization that exists to support people as they answer the question, “What must I do to be at peace with myself so that I may live presently and die gracefully?” Going with Grace works to improve and redefine the end-of-life experience for people rooted in every community using the individual lived experience as the foundation. Alua was a keynote speaker at EndWell 2019, and has been featured in the LA Times, Vogue, Refinery29, The Doctors, and InStyle. She is inspired by the gift of LIFE itself and is always on the quest for the best donuts and fried plantains!
Alica Forneret
Alica Forneret is a facilitator, writer, and Grief Guide who creates safe spaces for people to explore loss. She is fiercely committed to making sure that we have more conversations about grief, death, and dying - whether that’s at home, at work, or with strangers on the bus. Alica's work about how grief shows up in professional environments has been featured in the New York Times, LA Times, and Psychology Today. When she's not writing or developing customized grief resource plans for BIPOC, she volunteers her time as an Associate Board Member of Our House Grief Center and facilitates end-of-life events across The United States and Canada.
Oceana Sawyer
Oceana Sawyer is an End of Life Doula with certifications from the University of Vermont and the Conscious Dying Institute. She is also a qualified facilitator of Living Funeral Ceremonies and member of the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA).
Lashanna Williams
Lashanna (she/her) is, at her core, a helper; a doula, massage therapist and educator who merges formal education, ancestral knowledge, life experience, and all 6 senses to guide her care. With over 20 years of community care work Lashanna has roots deep in community education and activism. She is a member of the National End of Life Doula Association, African-American Health Council, National Black Doulas, American Massage Therapist Association, Coalition to Transform Advanced Care, Washington End of Life Coalition steering committee, and National Home Funeral Alliance Access & Equity Committee. She also is Director of the Board for A Sacred passing and a board member of the National Home Funeral Alliance. Lashanna is also a Washington State Health Advocate and End of Life Washington Client Advisor.
Joél Simone Anthony
My name is Joél Simone Anthony. I am a licensed funeral director and sacred grief practitioner in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally from Beaufort, South Carolina, I was raised in the heart of Gullah and Geechee culture. Spirituality has always been a huge part of my life and professional approach which is deeply rooted in ancient wisdom passed down from community elders, generation to generation.
During my decade of service in the funeral service industry, I fashioned my unique background and professional experiences into a caliber and style of care and comfort that guides countless families toward healing through the exploration of alternative practices designed to help you navigate and heal through your journey with grief.
It is my life's work to educate everyone –regardless of faith, race, age, or status – that death, dying and grief are sacred and transformative to our journeys as human beings.
This course is NOT ‘Black Deathcare 101’.
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It IS an opportunity for all people to gain a better understanding of some of the challenges that people face at the end of life who are marginalized in the current and historic context of systemic racism that pervades all of our institutions.
Get Started Today
This is only the beginning. We hope you will join.
FAQ
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Who can receive Continuing Education credit?
This course is a APFSP accredited course for .5 credits (5hours of credit). The credit is only for Licensed Funeral Directors and Embalmers in the states that accept APFSP certified courses. (Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington D.C., Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Wisconsin)
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Can I take this course if I am not interested in continuing education?
Yes, this course is for anyone in the death and dying community.
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What content will I receive in this course?
Shifting Deathcare: Tools for a New Paradigm is a 6- module course, including teaching videos (30-60 minutes each), and end module quizzes. Additional resources, worksheets, and self-reflections are also included.
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Is this course accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing?
Yes, the course videos are offered with closed captioning and ASL translations.
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How long will I have access to the course?
You will have access to the course content for 6 months after your enrollment date. If you need more time to complete the course, we are happy to give an extension on a case by case basis.
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Have a question that wasn't answered?
Email grace@goingwithgrace.com and we will be happy to assist you.
Death care is Community care.
Donate to the End of Life Training Scholarship Fund today. We appreciate your support.
