INTEGRATION OF SPIRITUAL CARE IN PALLIATIVE CARE
Dr. Dalia Rudytė, Lina Jakelė
St. Ignatius Loyola College, Kaunas, Lithuania
Keywords: pastoral care, integration, palliative care, patient.
Abstract:
Based on the concept of palliative care, it becomes evident that integrality in palliative care means that support for the patient encompasses not only medical, social, and psychological perspectives, but also a spiritual approach to the person. Palliative care provides comprehensive support not only to the patient but also to their relatives, thus becoming holistic in nature – addressing the whole person with their physical, social, spiritual, psychological, and emotional characteristics, as well as their strengths, weaknesses, and the difficulties and challenges they encounter. Pastoral care integrates the understanding that each person is important and unique, and that every effort should be made to help the patient not only die peacefully but also live as fully and comfortably as possible until death. In many cases, the assistance of a pastoral care specialist is needed to understand the situation adequately and to help patients and their relatives view illness and the dying process as a natural and inevitable part of life. This study aims to identify the assumptions underlying the need to integrate pastoral care into palliative care for patients and their relatives. The object of the study is the integration of pastoral care in palliative care. Research methods: (1) analysis of scientific literature and documents using synthesis and comparative methods; (2) questionnaire survey and statistical data analysis.
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