Finding Dignity at the End of Life

Finding Dignity at the End of Life discusses the need for palliative care as a human right and explores a whole-person methodology for use in treatment. The book examines the concept of palliative care as a holistic human right from the perspective of multiple aspects of faith, ideology, culture, and nationality. Integrating a humanities-based approach, chapters provide detailed discussions of spirituality, suffering, and healing from scholars from around the world. Within each chapter, the authors address a different cultural and religious focus by examining how this topic relates to questions of inherent dignity, both ethically and theologically, and how different spiritual lenses may inform our interpretation of medical outcomes. Mental health practitioners, allied professionals, and theologians will find this a useful and reflective guide to palliative care and its connection to faith, spirituality, and culture.

Kathleen Benton is president and CEO for Hospice Savannah, Inc. She is an experienced clinical ethics and palliative care director with a history of working in the hospital and healthcare industry. Renzo Pegoraro is a doctor, moral theologian, and bioethicist. He is chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Life and professor of bioethics at the Faculty of Theology, University of Padua.

Part I. 1. Defining Death Through Individual-Level Determinants Denisha Allicock, Kathleen Benton, Sara Plaspohl 2. Finding Dignity at the End of Life Through Palliative Care Everywhere Srivieng Pairojkul 3. Cultural Factors Enriching Palliative Care in the Middle East Azar Naveen Saleem and Azza Adel Hassan 4. A Jewish Understanding of Palliative Care Nadia Siritsky 5. Palliative Care: The Hindu Perspective Vidya Viswanath and Seema Rajesh Rao 6. Palliative Care: A Christian Perspective Mark E. Murphy 7. A Nontraditional Spirituality Perspective on Palliative Care and End of Life Denise C. ThompsonPart II. 8. Pain, Suffering, and Palliative Sedation Carlo Casalone 9. Compassionate Presence: The Accompaniment of Patients and Families in the Midst of Their Suffering Christina Puchalski 10. Evidenced-based Communication in the Palliative Conversation Kimberson Tanco and Eduardo Bruera 11. Holy Name Meditation: A Spiritual Intervention to Conserve Dignity of Patients and Nurses Sr. Jinsun Yong and Hun Lee 12. Disclosure of Diagnosis to Patients Emmanuel Luyirika Part III. 13. Challenges to Dignity from Medically Assisted Death Nuala Patricia Kenny 14. Health Policy Considerations for Spiritual Care in the United States Howard K. Koh and Eric Coles 15. Pediatrics and Aging: Palliative Care Franca Benini and Ferdinando Cancelli 16. International Palliative Care Advocacy Katherine Irene Pettus 17. Dignity Redefined: Mindfulness in Suffering Kathleen Benton, Ursula Bates, David Shannon, Michael DeLoach, Julia DeLoach 18. Conclusion Renzo Pegoraro