New fellowship will help imprisoned women plan for end of life

New fellowship will help imprisoned women plan for end of life 
Washington State University - WSU Insider; by Scott Swybright; 12/9/24 
Incarcerated individuals have few personal rights, but one they do retain is the ability to create advance directive plans for their health care. Unfortunately, few know that this is the case. A new project led by a Washington State University graduate student will educate more incarcerated people about their options as they approach the end of their lives. “When folks are incarcerated, they lose most of their bodily autonomy and basically become property of the government,” said Tosha Big Eagle, a doctoral student in WSU’s prevention science program at the WSU Vancouver campus. “Advance directives are one outlier, but nobody tells them about that right.” To help educate prisoners, Big Eagle recently received a fellowship from The Order of the Good Death, a group helping all people face end-of-life concerns, fears, and legalities. Big Eagle’s project will focus on ensuring incarcerated people at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) have access to end-of-life resources.