| Spiritual Care has always
been central to the philosophy and practice of Palliative Care.
Palliative Care seeks to be holistic
in its approach to its care of persons with life-threatening illness
and to integrate the physical, social, psychological and spiritual
so that patients and carers may come to terms with their experience
of dying as fully and creatively as they are able.
Within Western Palliative Care today,
the spiritual dimension of human being is widely interpreted as
referring to that which gives transcendent meaning and aspiration to
a person's life and which may or may not include God or religion.
Spirituality concerns all that makes
for an individual's existence as a person with all that implies of
our capacity as human beings for self-transcendence, relationship,
love, desire and creativity, altruism, self-sacrifice, faith and
belief: it is the dynamic of integration towards a person's unique
identity and integrity.
Taking this view it follows that all
people have spiritual needs. It is often the case that such needs
and concerns are brought into sharp focus when people come face to
face with death. |
