Open AccessSpirituality and palliative care
Author(s) -
Bert Broeckaert
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
indian journal of palliative care/indian journal of palliative care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.395
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1998-3735
pISSN - 0973-1075
DOI - 10.4103/0973-1075.76241
Subject(s) - spirituality , compassion , palliative care , medicine , conscience , nursing , spiritual care , ethical issues , alternative medicine , engineering ethics , law , pathology , political science , engineering
This paper shows how palliative care developed as a reaction to the compartimentalized technical approach of modern medicine. But what does it mean if we say palliative care wants to treat patients as whole persons? A few pitfalls need to avoided. All disciplines involved in palliative care should act within the limits of their own specific professional role. Physicians and nurses should certainly not force patients into spiritual or religious discussions or practices. They should understand that religion and spirituality also influence the ethical (and thus medical) choices people make, respect their own conscience and worldview too and cultivate conscious compassion.