Advancing Corrections Journal - Edition #18 - What Is Working With Women: Correctional Practice in the Post Bangkok Rules Era (ACJ18-A013)

Article 13: Ground-Up Compassion: Supporting Peer-Led End-Of-Life Care at the Central California Women’s Facility (ACJ18-A013)

Abstract

This paper explores a revolutionary peer-led end-of-life care program at the Central California Women's Facility (CCWF), initiated by incarcerated women advocating for compassionate care in their community. Aligned with the principles of the United Nations Bangkok Rules, the Comfort Care program seeks to uphold the dignity of incarcerated people and provide meaningful skill development through caregiving roles. Supported by the Humane Prison Hospice Project and a local non-profit hospice organization, this grassroots initiative equips participants with palliative care skills, fosters a culture of empathy and mutual aid, and centers humanity within a challenging environment. The Comfort Care program not only addresses the immediate needs of aging and terminally ill peers, but also enables caregivers to find purpose and emotional healing. By bridging gaps in trauma-informed care and promoting community support, this model reimagines prison culture, demonstrating the empowering and transformative potential of dignity-centered peer-led initiatives in carceral settings.

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Author

Laura Musselman

Director of Communications, Humane Prison Hospice Project, United States

Following the deaths of both of her parents, Laura Musselman felt compelled to begin work in end-of-life care and left her career in higher education as a college philosophy instructor. Upon her departure from academia, she trained with the International End-of-Life Doula Association (INELDA) as an end-of-life doula and became a hospice volunteer for Hinds Hospice in Fresno, California in 2018. At Hinds, she took on roles as a patient care volunteer, home hospice volunteer, and vigil volunteer; soon, she began training other volunteers to sit vigil for patients, which led to working with the Comfort Care volunteers at the Central California Women's Facility located in Chowchilla, California. As a former teacher of ethics she believes deeply in the accessibility of compassionate end-of-life care, and that the right to die with dignity is an essential human right. In addition to her work as Director of Communications and facilitator for the Humane Prison Hospice Project, Laura is also a trauma-support specialist, writer, and mother. Her interests include examining the ways in which privilege informs access to a "good death", advocating for community care, and reading, listening to, and learning from other people's stories.

Advancing Corrections Journal - Edition #18 - What Is Working With Women: Correctional Practice in the Post Bangkok Rules Era (ACJ18-A013)

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