The Urgency of Spiritual Care: COVID-19 and the Critical Need for Whole-Person Palliation

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis has amplified the importance of palliative care to countless patients suffering with and dying from this disease, as well as to their families, communities, and the worldwide cadre of overburdened health care workers. Particularly urgent is the need for...

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Published inJournal of pain and symptom management Vol. 60; no. 3; pp. e7 - e11
Main Authors Ferrell, Betty R., Handzo, George, Picchi, Tina, Puchalski, Christina, Rosa, William E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 01.09.2020
American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc
Subjects
Betacoronavirus
chaplaincy
Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology
Coronavirus Infections - psychology
Coronavirus Infections - therapy
COVID-19
Humans
palliative care
Palliative Care - organization & administration
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology
Pneumonia, Viral - psychology
Pneumonia, Viral - therapy
SARS-CoV-2
Spiritual assessment
spiritual care
Spiritual Therapies - organization & administration
Spirituality
COVID-19
Spiritual assessment
palliative care
chaplaincy
spiritual care
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Summary:The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis has amplified the importance of palliative care to countless patients suffering with and dying from this disease, as well as to their families, communities, and the worldwide cadre of overburdened health care workers. Particularly urgent is the need for spiritual care specialists and generalists to address spiritual suffering given the degree of isolation, loneliness, and vulnerability caused by this pandemic. Although spiritual care has long been recognized as one of the domains of quality palliative care, it is often not fully integrated into practice. All disciplines are ultimately responsible for ensuring that spiritual care is prioritized to improve quality of life and the experience of patients and families facing spiritual emergencies amid the complex life-and-death scenarios inherent to coronavirus disease 2019. Although the pandemic has revealed serious fault lines in many health care domains, it has also underscored the need to recommit to spiritual care as an essential component of whole-person palliative care.
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ISSN:0885-3924
1873-6513
DOI:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.06.034