For more than 26 years, Deanna Flores Cochran, RN, has worked at the intersection of hospice, palliative care, serious illness, family support, and end-of-life accompaniment.

As a board-certified hospice and palliative nurse, she spent years guiding families through the realities of advanced illness, dying, death, and the often-overlooked time before hospice begins. In 2005, she expanded that work into private end-of-life doula practice, helping families navigate the practical, emotional, and human challenges that arise when treatments are no longer working and difficult decisions must be made.

In 2010, Deanna founded the first End-of-Life Doula Certificate Program in the United States and went on to help shape the emerging doula movement through education, leadership, writing, and professional development. She is the author of the Amazon bestseller Accompanying the Dying and has mentored thousands of doulas, caregivers, family advocates, and helping professionals worldwide.

Today, her work focuses on helping people understand what families actually face during serious illness and end of life, how thoughtful support can reduce suffering, and how each person can develop their own meaningful path of service, whether supporting their own family, serving their community, or building a professional practice.