In addition to their religious beliefs, people have financial and family worries as well as a desire to be spared from suffering. No one should or could make decisions about end-of-life issues quickly and without praying for discernment.
A Clergy Guide to End-of-Life Issues book pdf
The Hastings Center Bioethics Briefing Book. The Hastings Center is a non-partisan research institution dedicated to bioethics and the public interest since 1969. We have cited this briefing book in several areas of our study guide and we believe you will find them of help as you prepare to lead these sessions.
David John Doukas and William Reichel, Planning for Uncertainty: Living Wills and Other Advance Directives for You and Your Family, 2nd ed. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007). As the title suggests, this book is an in-depth guide to advance care planning.
Phillip M. Kleespies, Life and Death Decisions: Psychological and Ethical Considerations in End-Of-Life Care, (Washington, DC, American Psychological Association, 2004). An excellent resource, although highly clinical, to assist in understanding the various end-of-life issues that arise for people.
Charles Meyer, A Good Death: Challenges Choices and Care Options (New London: Twenty-Third Publications, May 1998). This little book is an excellent resource for clergy to use in their considerations about end of life issues and how they discuss them with their congregants.
End-of-life care can also include helping the dying person manage mental and emotional distress. Someone who is alert near the end of life might understandably feel depressed or anxious. It is important to treat emotional pain and suffering. You might want to contact a counselor, possibly one familiar with end-of-life issues, to encourage conversations about feelings. Medicine may help if the depression or anxiety is severe.
Closure is an initiative to change expectations for end-of-life. Our goal is to empower consumers and healthcare professionals with easy-to-access, simple-to-understand information and resources to make educated decisions about end-of-life care. The Closure website includes blogs, listings of resources, news items, and the Closure 101 curriculum.Closure 101 is a curriculum of educational lessons dealing with an array of complex end-of-life issues including prognosis, advance planning, medical decision making, and hospice and palliative care. These difficult concepts are explained in a way that is designed to make sense to consumers. The curriculum contains 12 easy-to-follow lessons that can be viewed online or used by health educators to teach in-person. In addition to the lessons, the site contains questionnaires and information sheets that can help guide a person through the decision-making process. Guidelines for creating a Closure 101 program are available on the site.
Because elder abuse victims, abusers, and stakeholders often seek help from trusted faith-based entities, clergy need to be adequately prepared with appropriate intervention responses, concept awareness and knowledge concerning elder abuse and neglect as an emerging health and social crisis (University of Kentucky, 2007). This presentation is based on a study that explored issues related to the general research question: "What is the perceived level of elder abuse and neglect awareness, knowledge and intervention preferences among Protestant clergy in Kentucky? Survey responses were paired to examine relationships between demographic characteristics and the facets measured--awareness, knowledge intervention preferences, and perceived severity of elder abuse and neglect. Overall, clergy were generally not aware of their responsibilities and lacked detailed knowledge about elder abuse and neglect. Recommended areas for future research linked to awareness, knowledge, intervention responses and perceived severity are provided.
It is important to recognize that patients come to physicians to seek care for their medical condition. In delivering this care, physicians can be respectful and understand the spiritual dimension in patients' lives. But to go beyond that, e.g., to lead prayer or provide in-depth spiritual counseling, is inappropriate. Physicians are in a position of power with patients. Most patients come to us in vulnerable times. If the physician suggests a certain religion/spiritual belief or ridicules a patient's belief, the patient might adopt that physician's belief or lack of belief out of fear of disagreeing with a perceived authority. Therefore, it is critical that when discussing spiritual issues with patients, the physician listens and supports and does not guide or lead. 2ff7e9595c
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