Companioning: A Compassionate Approach to End of Life Care Giving

Companioning is a term that has been applied to many different fields over the years, but has gained significant traction within the deathcare landscape at present nodding to the therapeutic benefits this approach has offered the bereaved. 

Expert Dr. Alan Wolfelt, has developed a comprehensive approach to assisting those who are bereaved through the practice of companioning. Wolfelt advocates moving beyond the medical model’s approach to care, which prioritizes the assessment, analyzation, and resolution of other’s grief. Instead, companioning offers caregivers the opportunity to act as a witness, a soul guardian to those who are mourning. 

Hospitality is a primary component at the core of companioning. When we provide hospitality, we bring comfort to another by being fully present and thus developing a sense of familiarity with the personal stories, needs, desires of another.