Doula Dialogue | Online Event

Making Choice: The Gift of Life and the Gift of Death, with Karen Monaghan

• March 19, 2025 from 7 to 8:30pm

• Register by emailing us at doulaguild.com

  I will be sharing my experiences as a kidney donor, a clinical social worker (LICSW) and an immigrant.
  

  • Organ donation raises many issues that may be pertinent to our clients, such as disparities in terms of race and socioeconomic status. In sharing my story as a donor, I hope to raise awareness about the process and the choices it offers.

  • While working as a clinical social worker in dialysis and in oncology, I had many experiences of supporting patients and their medical team when considering questions that arise around sustaining life. I often had to support MDs in making more mindful choices about patient care and advocate for patients who wanted to stop treatment.  Important challenges we can help our clients with include making hard decisions and exploring cultural differences between our client and their providers regarding death and dying.

  • I will also talk about my experience of cultural differences in death and dying between Ireland and  the US and encourage a discussion about best practices at end of life.