Navigating the Emotional and Practical Aspects of Selling a Home After the Loss of a Loved One
Selling a home after the loss of a loved one is a multifaceted process that combines emotional challenges with practical logistics. While the emotional aspects can make the decision feel insurmountable at times, taking the process step by step and seeking support from trusted individuals and professionals can help. Learn more in this article.
Services of a Death Doula
What is a Death Doula
A death doula, also called an end-of-life doula or death midwife, is a trained professional who provides emotional, spiritual, and practical support to individuals nearing the end of their lives, as well as to their families and loved ones. Similar to how a birth doula supports individuals during childbirth, a death doula guides and assists individuals through the dying process, helping them navigate their feelings, fears, and wishes about death to create a meaningful and peaceful end-of-life experience.
Services a Death Doula May Provide:
Assisting with advanced care planning and decision-making.
Offering companionship and emotional support.
Facilitating communication between the dying person and their loved ones.
Helping create personalized rituals, ceremonies, or legacy projects to honor the individual’s life and wishes.
Death doulas aim to empower individuals with agency and dignity throughout the dying process. They often work alongside healthcare professionals, hospice teams, and caregivers to ensure the dying person’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs are met.
Hospice Care
Hospice care focuses on the care, comfort, and quality of life of a person with a serious illness who is approaching end of life. The care aims to provide dignity and individuality in a peaceful and supportive environment.
At some point, it may not be possible to cure a serious illness, or a patient may choose not to undergo certain treatments.
Options for where to get hospice care, palliative and end of life care include your home, a hospital, a hospice centre, a long-term care centre or an assisted living facility or group home.
Talk to your family and your health care team about what’s important to you and where you’d like to be at this time in your illness. Your choice may change as your illness changes. To find information pertinent in Alberta on what Palliative and End-of-Life Care services are available in your area, find your zone on this PDF. Your family physician can provide additional information and referrals.
Palliative Care
Serious illness and death impact the lives of all Albertans and their loved ones. The following resources provided by Compassionate Alberta can help Albertans face these experiences by planning ahead, learning about palliative care, building supportive communities and talking about death and dying. The following tools and more link to the Compassionate Alberta page.
Understanding Palliative Care: An interactive online module that explains what palliative care is and the kinds of support it offers, incorporating the voices of three Albertans who have personally benefited from palliative care.
PalliLearn: A series of four courses to help people develop the knowledge and skills to plan ahead and to be a supportive friend and neighbour through sickness, death, dying and grief.
Plan Ahead Toolkit: A resource for developing and facilitating public education on health, financial and estate planning.
My Wishes Alberta: A workbook to help people identify and share what is most important to them about their life, health, and personal care.
Death Cafe: Resources to promote and support the facilitation of Death Cafes, events where people gather to talk openly about death and dying.
Grief Support: Navigating Loss and Finding Support
Grief Support: Navigating Loss and Finding Support
t’s the emotional suffering you feel when something or someone you love is taken away. You may experience all kinds of difficult and unexpected emotions, from shock or anger to disbelief, guilt, and profound sadness. The pain of grief can also disrupt your physical health, making it difficult to sleep, eat, or even think straight. These are normal reactions to loss—and the more significant the loss, the more intense your grief will be. Be sure to seek support if you need it and reach out to family members and friends for help.
In tough times, we are more vulnerable to stress, worry, anxiety, and depression. Taking care of ourselves and those around us is essential. Be kind—to yourself and to others.
The death of a friend, family member, or even someone we didn’t know well can have a significant impact on our mental and physical health. It’s normal to feel stress, and sometimes these feelings may not appear for weeks or even months after the loss. It is important to watch for warning signs of prolonged or complicated grief.