As a death shepherd, Roxanne can help individuals and family to navigate their way through the end-of-life journey, including deathcare and after-death support.

This may mean:
  • Discussing options for the Advanced Care Plan, Appointment of Medical Decision Makers, Funeral Planning, and Preparing a Will
  • Supporting the individual to make decisions with which they are comfortable
  • Facilitation of family meetings to communicate the preferences of the dying person and explain what this will mean in practical terms
  • Being present as an advocate at meetings required for the completion of this documentation
  • Developing a support network
  • Referral to support agencies and providers when outside the scope of personal skills and capability
  • Facilitating the fulfilment of final wishes
  • Holding space for the final vigil
  • After-death care including washing, shrouding and blessing of the body

For many people, this is also a deeply spiritual time. Roxanne can help individuals explore the spiritual meaning of their death; develop rituals to assist the passage of the soul; serve as celebrant for the funeral or memorial service, and the committal of bodily remains.

Packages and Fees

The first meeting of a casual chat and cuppa is free, to see if Roxanne is the best fit to walk beside you at this time.

Roxanne may suggest other doulas in the professional network or you may decide you would rather work with someone else. It is a very personal decision and so the first meeting is free of charge.

Consequent engagements are charged at $90 in blocks of up to two hours so there is no pressure to finish important discussions. The individual can choose the purpose of those meetings according to their priorities:

  • End-of-life preferences & Death wishes
  • Getting Affairs in Order
  • Building a network of support
  • Living will and legacy
  • Active Deathcare
  • Caring for the body at home
  • Funeral/Memorial Planning

Catch-up meetings are $45 up to an hour. However, the first post-death meeting after the funeral or memorial is free of charge. It is a courtesy and a chance to find out if additional support is required in the early stages of the grief journey. Grief can be an isolating experience and Roxanne can help at the post-death meeting to link the bereaved with other support services or peer networks.

Exclusions
  • Nursing Care including the administration of medication and physical care while living
  • Housework and Petcare
  • Shopping
  • Legal lodgment of will Family mediation—will refer to other services
  • Counselling and psychotherapy—will refer to other services
  • Provision of materials for shrouding and rituals
  • Death certificates and notices
  • Design of funeral stationery
  • Transport and storage of body
  • Committal arrangements with cemetery

About Roxanne

From her own experience of traversing the landscape of grief while working in the welfare field and facilitating grief programmes, Roxanne moved into celebrancy to help develop personalised and meaningful funerals. This role naturally extended into supporting people preparing for death. She considers it a great privilege to walk alongside others in their end-of-life journey.

She has completed training in:
Roxanne is currently undertaking:

She also has prior qualifications in hospital-based general nursing, social welfare, and pastoral youth leadership.