Along with the services of other caregivers such as doctors, nurses, therapists and home health aides, Suncrest Home Health and Hospice in Phoenix offers the guidance of a spiritual advisor. Consultations with a spiritual advisor are, of course, voluntary, but we continually witness how they can make a significant difference in the quality of life for a hospice patient.
Entering Hospice Care in Phoenix
When a patient enters hospice, they give up lifesaving treatments. This can be anything from chemotherapy to dialysis to certain medications. Patients still receive comfort care such as pain relievers, anti-anxiety medications, anti-depressants and other helpful pharmaceuticals.
What brings a patient to make the decision to enter hospice care can vary. Often they have become exhausted by their treatments and may have begun feeling hopeless about getting better.
However, as you may know, a patient’s mental state often plays a significant role in their physical health. If they are wrestling with difficult or weighty problems, it may cause them to choose to enter hospice care sooner than might otherwise be necessary.
Hospice Patients & Spiritual Struggles
One recurring theme we see among some hospice patients is that they believe they are being punished by God for some past mistake or transgression they have made. At times, it can be difficult for them to see and understand that illness strikes independently from an individual’s actions and that all people, regardless of the way they live their lives, eventually must die.
A rift with a family member can also impact a patient’s decision about whether to continue with lifesaving measures. Old arguments, hurt feelings, grudges and long silences can sometimes seem even more painful years down the road.
Results of Spiritual Guidance
Spiritual advisors can help hospice patients make peace with God and with their family members. Once they do this, the heaviness of the conflict is lifted from them. This can improve their mood and their quality of life, and thus their health as well. It can even sometimes impact their decision to leave hospice and return to treatment.
The outcomes are as different as the patients. Regardless of what changes occur (if any) forgiveness, reunification and a new awareness and understanding are helpful in almost all circumstances.
Suncrest Home Health and Hospice in Phoenix
Some patients greatly look forward to a consultation with a spiritual advisor, while others are more leery. Rest assured we welcome patients of all faiths — or no faith — just as warmly. When we visit patients, we address whatever issue is troubling them at that moment — a new diagnosis, a change in circumstances, a disappointment. We offer perspective and comfort without judgment.
To learn more about Suncrest Home Health and Hospice of Phoenix, contact us today.
