Need for clinical pastoral care in the face of chronic ailments, universal health care perspective

Abstract

When patients are confronted with chronic diseases, spirituality comes in to play an important role as a coping strategy. There are moments when Patients share that some spiritual and existential needs have not been met. Here religion helps into improving quality of life of the sick. Spiritual, existential and psychosocial support is critical in giving answers to end life questions. Spiritual needs may not always be associated with life satisfaction, but sometimes with anxiety, and can be interpreted as the patients’ longing for spiritual well-being. Some patients need peace in their effort to heal and therefore, health and social support are universal human needs. There are four elements of Spiritual needs, namely, Peace, relation, Transcendence and Meaning/Purpose. These four can be attributed to issues that relate to psychosocial, emotional, existential, and spiritual needs. There is need for a model that provides a basis for further research and pastoral -clinical practice. Clinical Pastoral Health care needs to addresses patients’ wholeness. Perhaps by making these reflections too; there may be several barriers in the health care set-up that makes it difficult to adequately address clients’ needs.