Meghan J. Maher
End of Life Doula, LLC
Media and Speaking
Testimony, conversations, and the case for caregivers.
Most of what I do happens in living rooms and at bedsides, with no audience. Occasionally the work asks to be said out loud in public — to a Senate committee, into a microphone, in front of a room.
When it does, I say the same things I say in the living room. Caregiving is skilled labor. Dying is not a medical failure. And the people holding all of it need more than encouragement.
Congressional Testimony
U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging
Witness testimony · May 13, 2026
I testified before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging at a hearing titled “Caught in the Middle: Supporting Families in the Sandwich Generation,” chaired by Sen. Rick Scott with Ranking Member Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. I appeared alongside witnesses from the Senior Resource Alliance, the National Alliance for Caregiving, Meals on Wheels America, and the Association on Aging in New York.
I testified about what sandwich caregiving actually costs — in money, in career, in the years you don’t get back — and why goodwill has never been enough to hold it up. My caregiving began in 2013, seven weeks after my oldest son was born, when my mom was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. I have never known motherhood without also being a caregiver. My story is not unusual. That is exactly the problem.
Podcast Conversations
Informed Aging
with Robin Rountree and Edith Gendron · Alzheimer’s & Dementia Resource Center · January 1, 2025
A practical conversation for families facing dementia: what an end-of-life doula does, and how to make decisions for someone who can no longer tell you what they want. We covered the tools that actually help — the Dartmouth Dementia Directive, the Dementia Values and Priorities Tool, and Five Wishes.
Seeing Death Clearly
with Jill McClennen · July 13, 2025
A conversation about why so few of us have ever been in the room when someone died — and what that absence does to us. We talked about fear and avoidance, about what it would take to be a village again for the dying and for the people caring for them, and about how the natural world steadies you when nothing else does.
For media and event organizers
I speak and offer interactive workshops to community groups, caregiver organizations, healthcare teams, and conferences. Examples of topics:
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advance care planning
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sandwich caregiving
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grief
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reflective writing about about life, legacy, and end-of-life
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planning for the aging chapter of life
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what end-of-life doulas actually do
In person in Central Florida or virtual.
For interviews, panels, and bookings: hello@meghanjmaher.com · 407-461-3609