Touching the Spirit: Re-enchanting the Person in the Body.

In this essay, we argue that touch constitutes a sacred connection between the patient and practitioner. When touch is avoided or overlooked, the enigmatic inner workings of the body are ignored as those aspects of the body that can be quantified and ultimately controlled are emphasized. In utilizing touch as a fundamental way of opening up space for the sacred, the practitioner affirms the humanity for both the patient and herself. Only by returning to the senses can practitioners resist the dehumanizing effects of machinery and re-enchant the health-care profession in caring for persons they have sworn to serve.

Artificial nutrition and hydration: the evolution of ethics, evidence, and policy.

INTRODUCTION: The debate over use of artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH) in terminal illness, including advanced dementia, remains contentious despite extensive ethical and empirical investigation. METHODS: For this narrative review we undertook a focused, selective review of literature reflecting ethical analysis, empirical assessment of outcomes, legal responses, and thinking within the Roman Catholic religious tradition. RESULTS: The history of the debate over the past 60 years results from a complex interplay of ethical concerns, a growing empirical database, legal changes, public opinion, and financial as well as institutional concerns. Discussions of ANH today are often conducted without any understanding of this historical context. DISCUSSION: Patients' interests could be better protected through remedial action at both the individual and the policy levels.