Hospice care involves many services from different types of professionals. These may include doctors, nurses, physical therapists, counselors and more. Most of the services are ordered by the hospice nurse, except one: spiritual care. At Suncrest Home Health and Hospice of Chicago, we have seen this optional service bring great comfort to many of our hospice patients.
Hospice patients may wonder exactly what a spiritual advisor can do for them. The offerings are as wide as the differences among patients themselves. It’s not until a spiritual advisor meets a hospice patient that they can tell just what areas they can offer help in.
Hospice Patients Need Hope
Oftentimes we may believe that entering hospice care is the same as giving up hope. But it’s not. Hospice patients frequently work on coming to terms with the fact their life on earth will end soon, but that is not the same as giving up hope.
Hope comes in many forms, and sometimes patients can forget this. Or, they may never have considered it.
Spiritual advisors meet many hospice patients who are afraid, disillusioned, angry or even bitter. They may have these feelings toward God, toward friends or relatives, toward their caregivers or even themselves.
In these situations, spiritual advisors work to reframe how hospice patients view their circumstances so they can see them in new ways that are less judgmental, and therefore less distressing.
Addressing Concerns for Hospice Patients
Truthfully, friends and family are not always supportive in the ways a hospice patient may need or want them to be. A patient may wish their relatives would check on them more, offer to do some errands, help out in other ways or just stop by to keep them company. Maybe the patient has even done these things for the very relatives or friends who are now seemingly turning their back them.
They may ask themselves why. Why do they not get the same love and support back that they believe they have given out?
As spiritual advisors, we help them see that everyone is equipped with different gifts, as well as different levels of strength. Some people have an easier time receiving than giving. This is not a reflection on us, however, or our value as people. It just is.
What is Hope to a Hospice Patient?
We teach hospice patients to shift their focus in order to get back that hope they have lost, and to generate hope from new sources. We can hope for a good day, or even just a good hour. We help them set smaller goals that are less dependent on the actions of others. This allows them to disconnect from disappointment and find a renewed sense of achievement and gratitude from within themselves.
It may seem small, but learning these skills can make a big difference to hospice patients.
For more information on spiritual guidance in hospice from Suncrest Home Health and Hospice of Chicago, contact us today.
