RESUMO
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis has amplified the importance of palliative care to countless patients suffering with and dying from this disease, as well as to their families, communities, and the worldwide cadre of overburdened health care workers. Particularly urgent is the need for spiritual care specialists and generalists to address spiritual suffering given the degree of isolation, loneliness, and vulnerability caused by this pandemic. Although spiritual care has long been recognized as one of the domains of quality palliative care, it is often not fully integrated into practice. All disciplines are ultimately responsible for ensuring that spiritual care is prioritized to improve quality of life and the experience of patients and families facing spiritual emergencies amid the complex life-and-death scenarios inherent to coronavirus disease 2019. Although the pandemic has revealed serious fault lines in many health care domains, it has also underscored the need to recommit to spiritual care as an essential component of whole-person palliative care.
Assuntos
Betacoronavirus , Infecções por Coronavirus/epidemiologia , Cuidados Paliativos/organização & administração , Pneumonia Viral/epidemiologia , Terapias Espirituais/organização & administração , Espiritualidade , COVID-19 , Infecções por Coronavirus/psicologia , Infecções por Coronavirus/terapia , Humanos , Pandemias , Pneumonia Viral/psicologia , Pneumonia Viral/terapia , SARS-CoV-2Assuntos
Coalizão em Cuidados de Saúde/organização & administração , Cuidados Paliativos/organização & administração , Assistência Religiosa/organização & administração , Equipe de Assistência ao Paciente/organização & administração , Religião e Medicina , Espiritualidade , Catolicismo , Coalizão em Cuidados de Saúde/normas , Humanos , Estudos de Casos Organizacionais , Cuidados Paliativos/métodos , Cuidados Paliativos/normas , Assistência Religiosa/métodos , Assistência Religiosa/normas , Equipe de Assistência ao Paciente/normas , Projetos Piloto , Estados UnidosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: To develop and grow most effectively, palliative care programs must consider how best to align their mission with that of their institution. To do so, programs must identify their institutional mission and needs, what palliative care can do to address those needs given available resources, and how the palliative care team can measure and document its value. Such an approach encourages the palliative care team to think strategically and to see themselves and their service as a solution to issues and concerns within the institution. It also helps a palliative care team decide which, among many potential opportunities and possible initiatives, is the one most likely to be supported by the institution and have a recognized and significant impact. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We present five case studies to demonstrate how successful programs identify and address institutional needs to create opportunities for palliative care program growth. These case studies can serve as models for other programs seeking to develop or expand their palliative care services.