Spirituality In Hospice Palliative Care

Explores the end-of-life spiritual needs of people who do not identify with traditional religions. This groundbreaking book addresses the spiritual aspect of hospice care for those who do not fit easily within traditional religious beliefs and categories. A companion volume to Religious Understandings of a Good Death in Hospice Palliative Care, this work also advocates for renewed attention to the spiritual, the often overlooked element of hospice care. Drawing on data from clinical case studies, new sociological research, and the perspectives of agnostics, atheists, those who emphasize the spiritual rather than institutional dimensions of a traditional religion, and the rapidly growing cohort of those who describe themselves as spiritual-but-not-religious, the contributors to this volume interpret the shift from predominantly Christian-based pastoral services to a new approach to ?the spiritual? shaped by the increasing diversity of Western societies and new understandings of the nature of secular society. How do we use it in a way that enables caregivers to assist patients? Clinicians and policy makers will appreciate the book?s practical recommendations regarding staff roles, training, and resource allocation. General readers will be moved by the persuasive call for greater religious and spiritual literacy at every level of health care in order to respond to the full spectrum of human needs in life and in death.

Winner of the 2012 AJN (American Journal of Nursing) Book of the Year Award in the Hospice and Palliative Care category In the 1960s, English physician and committed Christian Cicely Saunders introduced a new way of treating the terminally ill that she called "hospice care." Emphasizing a holistic and compassionate approach, her model led to the rapid growth of a worldwide hospice movement. Aspects of the early hospice model that stressed attention to the religious dimensions of death and dying, while still recognized and practiced, have developed outside the purview of academic inquiry and consideration. Meanwhile, global migration and multicultural diversification in the West have dramatically altered the profile of contemporary hospice care. In response to these developments, this volume is the first to critically explore how religious understandings of death are manifested and experienced in palliative care settings. Contributors discuss how a "good death" is conceived within the major religious traditions of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Chinese religion, and Aboriginal spirituality. A variety of real-world examples are presented in case studies of a Buddhist hospice center in Thailand, Ugandan approaches to dying with HIV/AIDS, Punjabi extended-family hospice care, and pediatric palliative care. The work sheds new light on the significance of religious belief and practice at the end of life, at the many forms religious understanding can take, and at the spiritual pain that so often accompanies the physical pain of the dying person.

Spirituality and Hospice Social Work helps practitioners understand various forms of spiritual assessment for use with their clients. The book teaches practitioners to recognize a client's spiritual needs and resources, as well as signs of spiritual suffering.

Finding Dignity at the End of Life discusses the need for palliative care as a human right and explores a whole-person methodology for use in treatment. The book examines the concept of palliative care as a holistic human right from the perspective of multiple aspects of faith, ideology, culture, and nationality. Integrating a humanities-based approach, chapters provide detailed discussions of spirituality, suffering, and healing from scholars from around the world. Within each chapter, the authors address a different cultural and religious focus by examining how this topic relates to questions of inherent dignity, both ethically and theologically, and how different spiritual lenses may inform our interpretation of medical outcomes. Mental health practitioners, allied professionals, and theologians will find this a useful and reflective guide to palliative care and its connection to faith, spirituality, and culture.

This book aims to clarify current thinking about the spirituality of terminally ill patients to ensure greater compassion and sensitivity in meeting their spiritual needs. Listening carefully to patients at the end of life is at the heart of good palliative care and this book provides a means of recognising and talking about spiritual needs even when religious language is not used. The author refers to this as a "language of spirit." The book is based on interviews with patients who are dying and the language they use to describe their experiences. It deals with death, dying, the experiences of patients and the relief of spiritual pain by looking closely at patient stories, drawings and behavior. Aimed primarily at palliative care specialists and specialist nurses, this book will also appeal to social workers, health care chaplains, pastoral support workers, theologists and psychotherapists.

This book examines the services that chaplains provide to dying patients and the unique relationship that palliative care staff construct with people at the end of life. It explores the nature of hope when faced with the inevitable and develops a theory of spiritual care rooted in relationship that has implications for all healthcare professionals.

Publishing on the 50th anniversary of the opening of St Christopher's Hospice - widely thought of to be the first modern hospice, combining pain and symptom management with education and training - this edited collection discusses what motivates professionals and volunteers to provide spiritual care. This book shows how the world of hospice care is moving on from Cicely Saunder's, founder of St Christopher's Hospice, legacy to providing spiritual care in a more integrated manner. With entries from doctors, nurses and CEOs among others, this book informs good practice for professionals and volunteers providing spiritual care for patients and their families. It looks at how, for many of these professionals, spirituality does not have to be grounded in organised religion, but stems from understanding and providing for our human needs.

The World of Hospice Spiritual Care: A Practical Guide for Palliative Care Chaplains offers a comprehensive study of spiritual care in hospice. Dr. Sullivan's ability to express the role of the spiritual counselor in creative and insightful ways is refreshing. Chaplains serve in interdisciplinary teams to relieve pain and suffering and to improve patients' quality of life. Members of hospice teams must have specialized knowledge in their area of expertise. Hospice chaplains must be familiar with other areas of hospice work and their functions because hospice care components interrelate. Working in the hospice environment offers tremendous satisfaction and challenges. Doug skillfully addresses those challenges and equips chaplains to allow God's presence to shine through them as they minister effectively in palliative care outreaches. This practical guide examines hospice movement history, philosophy and concepts of care, program models, and interdisciplinary teams. Then Dr. Sullivan discusses the psychosocial and spiritual aspects of pain; spiritual assessments and spiritual care plans; the role of spiritual care staff; grief, bereavement, and mourning; and staff grief and stress management. A thorough analysis of these topics introduces caregivers to the world of hospice, which helps the critical role of the spiritual counselor (hospice chaplain) to emerge. Thus, a better understanding of these concepts and the resulting increased technical competence allows hospice chaplains more freedom to impact patients', families', and caregivers' lives through the ministry of presence. The World of Hospice Spiritual Care: A Practical Guide for Palliative Care Chaplains prepares chaplains to offer comfort, kindness, and care to the dying in their communities in their greatest hours of need. The emotional, spiritual, and practical helps hospice chaplains provide through the ministry of presence can make all the difference in the world for their neighbors. Indeed, hospice chaplains are ordinary people inspired by extraordinary purpose, allowing God's manifest presence to change people's lives through palliative care ministry.