Mar 142012
Professionals
Mar 062012
A 2006 study (Steinhauser, et al) sought a “practical, evidence-based approach to discussing spiritual concerns in [the context of] a physician-patient relationship.” The issue is a critical one in relationship to end of life care. Even the World Health Organization insists that appropriate palliative care “integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care.” Caring Read more . . .
Feb 142012
I had a clergy friend who was once contacted by a funeral home to do a funeral for a man he had never met. He agreed and proceeded to contact the widow and to arrange a funeral-planning session with her and any other close family. As was his custom (mine, too, when planning a funeral), Read more . . .
Feb 072012
Guest Contributor: Viki Kind CPR or cardiopulmonary resuscitation used to be very simple to understand. Cardio stands for heart, pulmonary stands for lungs and resuscitation means to revive from death. When a patient died, someone would push on the person’s chest to try to restart the heart while giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to help the person Read more . . .
Dec 202011
In the face of death, many of us find ourselves tongue-tied—and in some cases that may be just as well, because lapses into either pat answers or false comforts are generally regrettable. It is, however, a fact that really listening to others, including people who are dying, is one of the most profound gifts we Read more . . .
Dec 142011
In the previous post, I shared an introduction to making a visit to someone who is dying: the basics of hospital etiquette, really. In this post I’d like to share some ways you might attempt to prompt a deeper sort of sharing with someone who is dying. In the next post, I will share some Read more . . .
Nov 082011
The use of narcotic drugs in end of life care continues to be debated. On the one side, opiates are seen as addictive substances with criminal usage associations that might wrongly alter a dying person’s experience of reality. On the other side, opiates are seen as the most effective pain controllers available to us, the Read more . . .
Oct 112011
Perhaps one of the greatest fears of people who are dying is that they will run out of choices, the decisions will increasingly be made by others and that their needs will determine less and less of what happens to them. In this video, a surgeon describes four questions to be posed to the dying Read more . . .
Sep 302011
I believe that the purpose of a funeral or memorial service is first and foremost to offer a ministry of compassionate care to the bereaved. Whatever your particular tradition teaches about life, death or life after death, the spiritual care professional has before them a circle of family and friends who have endured a loss, Read more . . .
Sep 132011
It was Christmas day and in all the fun and frolic and feasting we neglected to call an older relative. Two days later she was dead and we all learned an important lesson: “Don’t wait until it is too late.” The 2007 movie, The Bucket List, reminded many of us that even with a terminal Read more . . .