Yes!  Empathy is key. Although we all will face death, we cannot know what others feels when it is their time but we can be empathetic because we will also be in their shoes one day.  Reframing the experience of death and dying can definitely be enhanced by use of analogous ideas. 

Morgan thank you for sharing the work the end-of-life doulas are doing at Mt. Sinai!  This is exactly what I am talking about in my post.  People need a space to be heard and listening to someone's reflections can be transformative to all parties involved.  

Thanks for your comment Anne-Laure!  In anthropology, we talk about the concept of liminality, or the middle space in rites of passage.  Both birth and death are liminal phases in people's lives, both the families of and the person experiencing the event.  People approach these events in very different ways, some with fear and trepidation, others with confidence.  In rituals and rites of passage it is often important to have someone to support and guide the person making the transition.  I feel like doulas can play this role at both ends of the life experience.