Spirituality, Religious Wisdom, and the Care of the Patient

Suffering and the Care of the Patient: Introduction

Alan B. Astrow, M.D.
aastrow@maimonidesmed.org

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The March 4, 2002 conference focused on suffering and the care of the patient with speakers from the Buddhist and Catholic traditions. We asked our speakers to reflect on the how their religion understood suffering, whether it might ever be seen as necessary or even redemptive. We also asked our speakers to offer practical suggestions to health care professionals for the care of patients with overwhelming physical or mental anguish.  

Historically, religion has served in part to explain the persistence of suffering, while, as the physician Eric Cassell has pointed out, most cultures need medical practitioners because suffering is a fact in every society. The challenges presented by suffering from illness might lead naturally to a partnership between medicine and religion. Maintaining one's hope in the face of suffering can be an overwhelming task for a patient. Continuing to be present to a suffering patient can be one of the most difficult services we're called on to perform as physicians. We physicians do the best we can with the techniques we have at our disposal, but are often left not knowing quite what to do or where to turn when those techniques stop working. This may be an area where religious voices could play an indispensable role, for patients and for health care professionals.   

A number of logistical and conceptual difficulties, however, may hinder the inclusion of religious voices as part of the health care team. The availability and visibility of chaplaincy services may be limited in many communities and health care institutions. Medical personnel may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with discussing spiritual responses to illness. The training of religious personnel may not always prepare them for the variety of painful quandaries created by contemporary medicine.

James F. Keenan, "Suffering and the Christian Tradition"
Venerable Guo Yuan Fa Shi, "Suffering and the Buddhist Tradition"
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Published: March 20, 2002