In Oregon’s coastal communities, doulas and volunteers are reimagining end-of-life care

In Oregon’s rural, coastal communities, volunteers are coming together to reimagine what end of life care can look like for aging residents outside of medical settings.Three years ago, Margo Lalich co-founded the North Coast End of Life Collective. She’s a nurse and public health professional who says the COVID-19 pandemic was a “wake-up call” that helped her identify a lack of intentional, communal grieving and gaps in infrastructure surrounding end-of-life care in rural areas. She began hosting educational workshops via Zoom for people who wanted to learn more and be involved in facilitating end-of-life conversations and initiatives for their communities’ aging residents. One of the attendees was Kevin Shluka, a sculptor and landscaper located in Tillamook County who’s been volunteering in community hospice since 2024.We’ll hear more from Lalich and Shluka about the role the End of Life Collective has filled in these coastal communities, and more on what it looks like to facilitate this unique model of care.