Oct 8, 2015
Liz Crowe delves into the deeper issues surrounding critical care
and religion. She explores how religion influences patients and
their families, why doctors can push against faith, and how the
healthcare community can integrate an acceptance of faith into
their care.
The ultimate goal in working with any patient and their family is
connection. This guarantees respect, integrity and ensures all
communication is understood and goals are worked on together to
optimise health outcomes. Connection is also a protective factor
for patients and staff as it builds resilience and wellbeing.
Health professionals are often uncomfortable or annoyed if people
of faith want to integrate their beliefs and hopes into medical
conversations and outcomes.
Health professionals may perceive faith or religion as a threat or
oppositional to science and the reality of the situation. Ideally
faith may be an additional resource for health professionals to use
with patients and their families in times of crisis, uncertainty,
and end of life care. There is a strong connection between faith
and hope. Prayer and crisis-orientated faith are commonplace in
critical care medicine even for people who have been ambivalent or
non-believers of faith in the past.
Challenging a person’s faith or belief in times of crisis may
result in a severing of the therapeutic alliance or relationship
which will have the opposite effect to what the health professional
may desire. People who ‘refuse’ to believe a diagnosis or prognosis
in the hope of a miracle or divine intervention are vulnerable. To
enter a dispute with religion is disrespectful, futile, and
unhelpful. To learn more about someone’s beliefs and join in a
genuine hope for a ‘miracle’ shows compassion, understanding and
respect.
Nobody wants to suffer. Most of us are frightened by loss and
illness. Inviting and sitting comfortably with faith and prayer
while also gently holding their fears and preparing for the worst
is a more powerful and honest way to work. Regardless of personal
values and beliefs, hoping that others can receive comfort and
peace from a sense of spirituality and faith is to remain
human.
We aim never to fight with a higher being, rather invite the
presence into the family room and join with the family in the
desire that the family never feel alone or abandoned by either
their faith or us as health professionals. Long after we may have
forgotten the specifics and details of families, they will remember
us. The health professional who can sit with someone, who can build
health goals and care based on the beliefs of others, will be those
who are most respected and valued.
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