Spiritual issues in suffering: creating a dialogue between clergy and palliative care providers

Spirituality in western hospice and palliative care has become increasingly defined in secular terms, effectively dissociating it from the major faith traditions. This may significantly limit the ability of palliative care organizations to address the spiritual needs of patients whose spirituality is primarily defined in religious terms. We hypothesized that a dialogue can be initiated between clergy representatives from a specific faith tradition and palliative care practitioners from various health-related professions to inform a deeper level of mutual understanding which could facilitate development of palliative care programs attuned to the specific needs of patients sharing that tradition. A conference at a spiritual retreat center in Romania was organized during which participants were introduced to the Total Pain concept of Dame Cicely Saunders. Other sessions were devoted to small group work in which participants examined clinical/pastoral problems related to suffering, ethical issues at the end o...