Henry Fersko-Weiss is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, who in 2003, created the first end of life doula program in the United States at a hospice in New York City. That program, which adapted approaches from the work of birth doulas, focused on helping a dying person and family prepare for the end of life, working alongside them in the last days, and supporting them in their early grief.

Following the publication of an extensive front-page article on Henry’s work in the New York Times in 2006, he began teaching the end of life doula approach publicly. In 2015, along with Meredith Lawida and Janie Rakow, Henry cofounded the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA) to bring his model of end-of-life doula care to organizations, communities, and private practitioners that serve the dying. After helping guide the early development of INELDA, Meredith left the organization to focus her life elsewhere; Janie became INELDA’S President.

Since 2003, Henry has directly guided and supported hundreds of people through the dying process and taught thousands of people how to do doula work. He has been interviewed for many publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Washington Post, the Hospice Foundation of America e-magazine, the American Funeral Director magazine, as well as for BBC radio and New Jersey Caucus, a PBS television program. His book, Caring for the Dying, The Doula Approach to a Meaningful Death, was published in early 2017. Henry can be reached at henry@inelda.org.