Blue

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Blues Clues Recognizing and Supporting the
Emotional and Spiritual Needs of Cardiac and
Pulmonary Patients

• Susan Quisenberry Allen, MDiv, BCC
• Baptist Health Lexington

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Objectives

• What is the difference between spirituality and
  religion?
• Emotional and spiritual care enhances
  relationships between patients, family members
  and staff.
• Treating the patient holistically demonstrates
  respect for the person and reflects positively
  upon the provider.
• Providing a support group allows staff to assess
  for situational vs. clinical depression.
• Offering the patient coping strategies improves
  the patients overall outcome.

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What is Spirituality?

• the way humans seek and experience meaning and
  their connectedness to
• the moment
• to self, to others, to nature
• and to the significant or sacred
• Improving the Quality of Spiritual Care as a
  Dimension of Palliative Care The Report of the
  Consensus Conference (Journal of Palliative
  Medicine, 2009, 12/10885-904)

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A Simple Definition of Spirituality

• Spirituality is the relationship
• of trust and safety.

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Spirituality

• How is it related to being religious?
• Think of someone who you consider to be religious
• Think of someone who you consider to be spiritual

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Religion and Spirituality

• RELIGION IS FAITH IN BELIEF

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Religion and Spirituality

• SPIRITUALITY IS FAITH IN RELATIONSHIPS

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What kind of relationships are we talking about?

• Relationship to God or Higher Power
• Relationship to Others
• Relationship to self
• Relationship to nature or environment

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Spirituality vs. Religious

• Patients, whether or not they practice any
  particular religion, have spiritual needs. We
  must be able to assess for these needs if we are
  to deliver comprehensive, holistic
  care.Richardson Robinson, 2004

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What does Joint Commission say?

• The Joint Commission on Accreditation of
  Healthcare Organizations requires hospitals and
  other healthcare institutions to include a
  spiritual assessment as part of the overall
  assessment of a patient to determine how the
  spiritual outlook can affect his or her care,
  treatment, and services.
• Joint Commission (2005)

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Joint Commission

• The organization respects and accommodates the
  patients right to religious and other spiritual
  services.
• The organization informs the patient of his/her
  rights PRIOR to beginning care, treatment or
  services, preferably during the initial
  evaluation.
• 2009, The Joint Commission, RI.01.01.03, EPs
  1-3

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Connections

• How do you create and maintain connections with
  your patients?
• How does this relate to spiritual and emotional
  care?

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What gives your life meaning?
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Meaning of Illness

• Fears concerns intimate strangers
• Illness
• Death dying
• Changes losses
• Family/self/role
• Control
• EPEC Project, Robert Wood Johnson
  Foundation, 1999
• Intimate Strangers Journal of Pastoral Care
  Vol. XLIV Summer 1990

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Changes and Losses.
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Psychological Crisis

• The heart heals faster than the mind because it
  has no memory.
• (Cardiac Champs a Survivors Guide How to Live
  a Healthy, Vigorous, Happy Life After a Heart
  Attack, by Larry McConnell, p. 49)

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Financial Stress
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Spiritual Crises

• Search for meaning or purpose
• Loss of a sense of connection
• Feelings of guilt or unworthiness
• Questioning of faith
• Desire for forgiveness
• Sense of abandonment by God
• EPEC Project, Robert Wood Johnson
  Foundation, 1999

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Offering Spiritual Care

• Practice of compassionate presence
• Listening to hopes, fears, pain or dreams
• Notice the spiritual journey
• Attentiveness to all dimensions
• Body Mind Spirit
• Incorporate religious practice as appropriate

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Healing Your Heart

• We discuss the experiences and responses that
  people commonly have in dealing with heart
  illness and how we can help them move along in
  their recovery.

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Healing Your Heart Topics

• The impact of heart disease on the individual
• Common responses of individuals
• The impact of heart disease on your loved ones
• Coping strategies
• Group discussion

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What are some of the changes you have
experienced?
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Types of Responses

• Emotional
• Stages of Grief Shock, Denial, Anger,
  Depression, Acceptance

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Types of Responses

• Blame/Anger
• Directed toward self or others

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Impact on Loved Ones

• Changes in Roles or Reversal of Roles
• Decreased Social Activity
• Financial Concerns
• Fear of losing their loved one

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Depression

• Is it clinical or situational?

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Coping Strategies

• A support group
• Exercise
• Healthy Diet Tips
• Spiritual care
• Community

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• RELATIONSHIPS!

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Time to Breathe
Ruach (Heb.) and Pneuma (Grk.) A force,
breath, wind, spirit, breath of God
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For the Spirit of God has made me, and the
breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job
334, (NLT)