Welcome to The Dying Year,
Providing End of Life Doula Training and Resources

With years of experience in advance care planning facilitation, end-of-life doula training and mentoring support, home funeral assistance and home funeral guide training, Merilynne Rush is prepared to provide training, mentoring, and consulting that spans the end-of life continuum to individuals, families, groups and professionals alike. Her continuing interest in addressing social justice issues in the end-of-life space informs her personable and empathic style, balanced with an emphasis on straight-forward, practical detail, and provides a welcoming environment to all. 

Meet Merilynne Rush, MSHP, RN, BSN​

Since 1980 I have been working with families in transition. This work is closely related to a lifelong commitment to social justice activism. For many years I was a homebirth midwife. Most recently I have been a pioneer in the end-of-life doula movement. My awareness of caregiving began during childhood, when I was coming up in an all white suburb of Detroit and learning from friends, teachers, caregivers, extended family members, and eventually from extensive travel and work around the world. I strive to confront my privilege, bias, and participation in white supremacist culture. That is why I do not turn anyone away for lack of ability to pay. I deeply respect the innate wisdom of each individual. In my classes I attempt to help us all tap into our cultural roots of compassion and caring for each other.
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I love teaching. In addition to being a midwife, I have been a hospice nurse, a companion caregiver, home funeral guide, and health-care volunteer in India, Nicaragua, and West Africa. It has been an extreme honor to work with numerous families in the area of birth and death. I have an MS in Hospice and Palliative Studies and a Nurse Educator Certificate from Madonna University, a BS in Nursing from the University of Michigan, and a BA in Humanities and Women's Studies from Michigan State University. I am a Certified Respecting Choices® First Steps Advance Care Planning Instructor. In service to nonprofit organizations, I was president of the National End-of-life Doula Alliance (NEDA) from its founding in 2018 to October, 2020, am a founding member of the NHPCO End-of-life Doula Council and current vice-chair, and served on the board of directors of the Green Burial Council, the National Home Funeral Alliance, Michigan Doula Connection, and the Washtenaw Health Initiative Advance Care Planning Committee. I received my SageUSA "Caring for LGBT Older Adults" endorsement in 2020. Se habla Espanol.

​ I hope to hear from you!
View a five-minute video about my recent Doula Research.

What's Happening?

End-of-Life Doulas
Wednesday Discussion Group
12 pm EST, 9 am PST​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​
  • ​Jan 19: Working with Guardians and POAs at End of Life with Stacey Boss Keith
  • ​Jan 26: Toxic Positivity with Kristabeth Atwood
  • ​Link to Past Discussions​
End-of-Life Doula Online Training​​
  • Feb 5 - Mar 5, 
    Saturdays. 12:30-4:00 PM EST    ​​
  • April 22 - May 20, 
    Fridays. 1-4:30 PM EST
Advance Care Planning
Respecting Choices® First Steps Facilitator training.​​​
  • Friday, April 1,
    ​12:00-5:30 PM EST
  • LIVE online via zoom
For all types of care providers. Learn to help others designate a healthcare advocate, discover and share their wishes with them, and complete an Advance Directive. This is an excellent skill for EOL Doulas, spiritual and healthcare providers, social workers. Emphasizes conversation rather than simply "filling out a document."
Home Funeral
Become a Home Funeral Guide!
  • 12-week, self-guided course
  • Weekly LIVE online office hours
Learn how to instruct families to care for their own dead at home, including body care, historical and cultural perspectives, legal aspects, safety precautions, ceremony and ritual, and creating a circle of support. Begins October 18, 2021.

​Please find me on Patreon and offer your support.

Merilynne hosts the Ann Arbor Death Cafe, which meets online the third Saturday of every month from 10:30am to 12:00pm EDT. If you would like to attend, please send us an email and let us know. 
"I first met Merilynne in person at the National Home Funeral Alliance conference in Raleigh in 2013.  However, MONTHS before she had reached out to me as "the local" to help with marketing, contacting vendors, and making necessary phone calls.  What a dynamo!!  This woman is in-charge, on-point, and top-rate in every aspect related to home funeral and after death home care.  I have so much respect for her and her abilities to organize and get us to where we need to be.  Thank you, Merilynne, for all you do!  It has been a real blessing to know and learn from you through the years."
                                                         ​—Sara Williams, Shrouding Sisters
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