Profiles in presence: Karina Armentas
Interview with Karina Armenta in her own words:
This month we’d like you to meet Karina Armenta, a Peaceful Presence Project doula trained this past winter through the grant-funded rural doula program in Eastern Oregon. Karina was raised and has lived in Eastern Oregon most of her life, currently residing in Ontario. As a young adult, Karina followed her mom’s footsteps into nursing. “I did hospice for a long time and loved hospice, but with little babies it just wasn’t feasible. I’d be off somewhere on a mountain with no cell service, three hours away and then would get the call, “can you pick up your baby, she’s vomiting?” . . . Well no! It was just too hard. So now I run an assisted living and memory care facility of 120 residents, and I love this too.”
During Covid, Karina recognized how much health care had changed, particularly around how doctors and nurses were communicating to their patients. “Conversations were too short, we just never had enough time . . . health professionals were running in giving one option without explaining there might be three or four other options, without discussing all of the impacts of one option vs another. So, I’ve been looking for a better way to support my community, my residents. One day I got this email saying that there’s a scholarship targeted at rural Oregon for community members and professionals to be trained as death doulas. And for me it was 100% YES! . . . The training was mostly online with coursework, videos and writing submissions and a zoom call every other week. Then at the conclusion we met for an all-day in person session. It was so nice to meet the people on the other side of the screen. In meeting the other participants, we all had very different visions of what being a doula would look like, and they were all right. We all had a different lane, but they were all going in the same direction.”
Karina is using her training both in her community and workplace. “I’ve met with the leadership at a couple of local churches to present workshops on advance care planning and doing directives: why this stuff is important, why you shouldn’t wait until you’re an older adult but rather do them in your 20’s and 30’s, and update them from time to time. . . not to assume resources are here for when something bad happens, but build them within your family, your friends and community.” Karina is also concerned about the growing homeless population living outside in Eastern Oregon and how to help them with advance care planning. Another goal is to start a hospice prison program similar to the Humane Prison Hospice Project in California, given the needs at the large state prison in Ontario. She has many great projects in the pipeline!
In terms of her work place, Karina relates: “I’m using the training on a day to day basis with my residents, families and staff by slowing things down and having more effective communication. Another big take-away is that I can be an advocate without being invested in which choice people make. The choices are their choices; respecting this and being an advocate for whatever that is. Slowing down, having more effective communication and open dialogue has been vital. Helping people become advocates for themselves has been really great.” It is truly inspiring to hear how the professional doula training has motivated this vibrant young woman to create positive change in her community! Thank you Karina!