Teatime Talk: Beyond the Bedside: What Does a Death Doula Really Do?

Most people picture a death doula at a bedside in someone’s final days. That’s one part of it. The work can start much earlier and continue well after: helping someone think about how they want to spend their final days, supporting a caregiver who is running on empty, or sitting with those left behind.

In this two-hour session, Ming Li of The Life Review will bring stories and invite you to share your perspectives. Together, we’ll explore what support at the end-of-life can look like in our own families and communities, and talk honestly about what feels useful, what feels uncomfortable, and what might be missing.Bring your curiosity, and whatever you already think about death, dying and grief.

Ming Li Tan is the founder and Executive Director of The Life Review, a Singapore-registered charity that normalises conversations about death, dying and grief through education and community engagement.

A trained End-of-Life Doula with a focus on dementia care, Ming Li leads programmes that help individuals, families, caregivers and communities prepare for the end of life, support the dying and bereaved, and build the confidence to care for one another. These include Last Aid, the international public palliative care course she brought to Asia for the first time, alongside grief literacy programmes and Death Over Dinner.

Ming Li came to this work after losing her mother at 17, over a decade in corporate leadership, and years as a Movement and Mindfulness Facilitator and Reiki Master supporting clients through terminal illness, chronic pain and bereavement. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Thanatology at Edgewood University, US.

She believes that embracing the impermanence of life compels us to live authentically, love fiercely, and leave a legacy of compassion and connection.