Spiritual Care

Beacon Hospice provides holistic care at the end of life that addresses the needs of the mind, body and spirit. This means all patients and their loved ones receive care that respects individual spiritual values.

Spirituality is unique to every individual. It encompasses not only one’s religious orientation, but other connections to the universe as a whole, a person’s relationship with him/herself and with other people.

A variety of persons may provide spiritual care, including family members, friends, members of a patient’s religious community and Hospice’s staff members. Beacon Hospice’s chaplain does not displace these spiritual resources. Rather, he provide complementary support by assuring spirituality has a prominent place among the healing resources available to all patients and their loved ones.

Beacon Hospice’s chaplain is part of every patient’s interdisciplinary hospice care team. Patients and their loved ones can speak to the chaplain at any time. The chaplain provides non-judgmental, confidential support to patients, their caregivers, families and friends. He meets individuals where they are in their particular spiritual journeys.

The chaplain understands the spiritual impact of terminal illness on patients and their families and friends. The chaplain is an ordained clergy who is theologically and clinically trained. He is able to work with and provide assistance to people of all religious traditions, as well as with those who do not follow a specific tradition.

Why Seek Spiritual Support?

People in end-of-life care seek spiritual support for many reasons. They may need

help:

• Adjusting to a Medical Diagnosis

–        when dealing with a new or life-changing health diagnosis, terminal illness or anxiety about medical treatment.

• Dealing with Issues of Grief

–        when experiencing loss or grief, whether this involves one’s own impending death, the loss of a loved one, loss of health and identity related to the diagnosis or any other significant or recent loss.

• Facing Fears

–        when facing fear of isolation, the unknown, death, afterlife, losing control, unmet responsibilities, divine judgment, loss of abilities, status or independence.

• Addressing Feelings of Guilt or the Need for Forgiveness/ Release From Guilt

–        when experiencing guilt with regard to past behaviors or feelings

–        when seeking forgiveness for oneself or to forgive another

• Sorting through Ethical Dilemmas

–        when faced with ethical decisions related to medical treatment

–        when seeking insight into how beliefs affect medical care or issues related to Power of Attorney for Health Care or Living Wills

• Connecting with Sources of Community Support

–        when desiring to connect with other spiritual support or faith groups within the community.

• Coping With Physical or Psycho-social Pain or Suffering

–        when desiring spiritual resources to help cope with pain and/or suffering

• Participating in Religious Rituals

–        when desiring to have someone with whom to pray, meditate or read sacred texts

–        when desiring someone to provide or help find resources for religious sacraments, rituals for life transitions, blessings, weddings, commitment ceremonies, memorials, funerals, etc.

At the heart of spirituality is the universal human capacity for transcendence, that is, the awareness that we humans, individually and collectively, are part of a spiritual reality greater than ourselves.

Source: Guidelines for Spiritual Care in Hospice,

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.