Caring for Someone Who Is Dying
Finding your footing, understanding care, and making room for what matters today.
When someone you love is dying, you may be taking in unfamiliar information while trying to keep everyday life going. This course helps you understand the care team, prepare questions, offer familiar comforts, and share responsibilities. There is space for your own feelings and limits, alongside the wishes of the person you care for.
Or get all five family caregiver courses for $99.
- Self-paced
- 6 modules
- 18 lessons
- 5 printable resources
- Lifetime access
This course may help if you’re thinking…
- “Everything feels unfamiliar.”
- “I don’t know who does what.”
- “I want to help them feel comfortable.”
- “I’m not sure what to say.”
- “I’m running out of energy.”
You can begin with the question that brought you here. Each lesson offers an explanation, an everyday example, and possibilities to consider within your own circumstances. Read what helps today and return when another need arises.
Practical help you’ll find here
- Put questions into words for the care team, and keep the answers and after-hours contacts together.
- Notice the comforts your loved one welcomes and share their preferences with permission.
- Work out what you can offer, what someone else could share, and where the plan needs more support.
Finding words for a question
“Could you go over that once more?”
You may be taking in more information than you can remember. The course offers ways to ask for an explanation, check your understanding, and keep useful guidance close, with room to ask again.
Six modules, at your own pace
The lessons explain the topic in plain language, then explore how it can look in everyday life. Each includes an imagined example, drawn from situations caregivers commonly describe, with room to consider what fits your own life. Open a module to see its lessons.
1Finding Your FootingWhen someone you love is dying, you can begin with what matters today.
- When everything changes
- What it means to be a caregiver
- What is yours to carry, and what is not
2Understanding the Care JourneyKnowing who can help makes the unfamiliar easier to navigate.
- Palliative and hospice care
- The people on the care team
- Asking questions and speaking up
3Offering Comfort in Everyday MomentsSmall, familiar acts of care can carry enormous meaning.
- Comfort is more than the absence of pain
- Creating a room that feels like theirs
- Noticing discomfort and knowing when to call
4The Conversations That MatterWays to begin, listen, and follow what your loved one wishes to share.
- Beginning a difficult conversation
- Listening without fixing
- Wishes, relationships, and unfinished things
5Caring for Yourself Along the WayYour needs matter, too.
- The emotional weight of caregiving
- Boundaries, rest, and shared responsibilities
- Finding support that fits your life
6Being Present as Things ChangeFinding guidance as care changes, with room for your relationship and your own needs.
- When the pattern of care changes
- When death may be approaching
- Goodbye, immediate steps, and what comes next
Tools you can keep close
A main companion brings practical ideas together, with four supporting resources for notes, preferences, contacts, or shared plans. Use the parts that help, then print or save what you want to keep nearby. Share relevant information with the people involved in care, with your loved one’s permission.
My Caring Companion
A practical place to gather what matters, organize help, and make the next step feel more manageable.
Comfort & Preferences Worksheet
A place to gather the small things that help your loved one feel known.
Shared Care Plan
A little help with everyday tasks can make space for connection.
Care Team & Contact Guide
Names, numbers, and instructions to keep within reach.
Questions for the Care Team
A place for your questions and the answers you receive.
Here whenever you need it
- After purchase, follow the instructions to create your IEOLCA account and open your course.
- Read on your phone, tablet, or computer, a few minutes at a time.
- Use the writing spaces to gather your thoughts, prepare questions, or record something worth remembering.
- Go in the order that helps you, with lifetime access to return as things change.
A gentle note: this course offers educational support for families. Please follow your loved one’s care plan and contact their care team with questions about symptoms, medication, or changes in their condition. In an emergency, follow the agreed emergency plan or call local emergency services.
Find your footing, one day at a time
Bring a little more clarity to the care you are giving. Explore everyday comfort, questions for the care team, and ways to share the responsibilities, with practical companions you can turn to as new questions arise.
Self-paced · 6 modules · Printable resources · Lifetime access
All five courses, together
You may want help with different questions as things change. The collection brings together all five topics, so you can return to comfort, conversations, the final days, or your own needs whenever they come into focus.
- Caring for Someone Who Is Dying
- When Death Is Near
- Creating Comfort at the End of Life
- Conversations That Matter
- Caring for Yourself While Caring for Another
Other courses that may help
Creating Comfort at the End of Life
Small, practical ways to help someone feel settled and known.
Conversations That Matter
Ways to begin a conversation, listen with care, and respect what stays private.
Caring for Yourself While Caring for Another
Rest, help, and boundaries for the person doing the caring.
Questions about this course
Who is this course for?
These courses are for you if you are caring for someone who is dying: a partner, relative, friend, or someone important in your life. You may be at home, visiting a hospital or care setting, or helping from a distance. You can begin with the experience and questions you have today.
Is this medical advice?
The course offers everyday guidance and questions to bring to your loved one’s care team. Their clinicians provide individualized advice about symptoms, medication, and changes in condition. The examples help you prepare for those conversations and follow the guidance you receive.
How does the course work?
After purchase, follow the instructions to create your IEOLCA student account and open the course in your web browser. Read on your phone, tablet, or computer, in the order that fits your needs. The writing spaces help you gather your thoughts, and the resources can be printed or saved as a PDF.
Can I print the worksheets?
Yes. Each course includes five fillable resources you can print or save as a PDF, so you can keep them close or share them with family and the care team.
How should I use the reflections?
Use the questions in the way that helps today: think about one, write a few words, or take an idea into your day. You can return to the course as your questions change.
How long do I have access?
You have lifetime access, so you can return to the course whenever you need it.
Can I get all five family caregiver courses together?
Yes. All five courses are available together for $99 USD, instead of $145 when bought one at a time.
Is this training to become a death doula?
This is a course for your own caregiving situation. It draws on the attentive, person-centered approach we teach end-of-life doulas, and offers everyday ways to support the person you care for. It does not provide professional doula certification.
Something else on your mind? Email office@ieolca.org.
Support for the days you’re living through
If this course speaks to what you’re facing, you can begin with the lesson or resource that feels most useful. There is room to read slowly, leave a question open, and return.