CARING FOR THE WHOLE PERSON

CARING FOR THE WHOLE PERSON God, Medicine, and Miracles (GMM) - chpt 1 Helping Hurting People (HHP) – lesson 1

The Overall Goal : Healing • Curing the physical disease(s) • Resolving the psycho-social and spiritual problems  Healing the heart, mind, soul, and spirit. This helps in curing the disease • Restoring the sick person to full life

The spirit of a person The inner core of the personality that deals with : • Relationships with the spiritual dimension of life – God, or other spiritual powers • The Will – where we make basic life decisions • Where we ask the basic questions of life : • Who am I? – identity • Why am I here? - meaning, purpose • What has gone wrong? • How am I to live?

Spiritual care – What is it? • Personal and spiritual assessment - history • Discerning personal and spiritual problems • Inviting a person into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ – salvation • Resolution of inner problems to restore peace • Helping a person find true identity – a positive self image – and find meaning and purpose in life • Prayer for healing

Spiritual care is backIN • JCAHO requires hospitals to provide spiritual care • It must be “patient directed” • It is “evidence-based” • “The Faith Factor,” Dale Matthews • “The Link Between Religion and Health,” Harold Koenig and Harvey Cohen

Anger at God • You are examining a man with severe coronary artery disease. You ask him about his faith, and he replies angrily: • “How can I believe in a God who allowed a drunken driver to kill my 5 year old grandson?!” • Do you think this is affecting his heart disease? • How would you reply to him?

In ancient times • Illness was thought to be primarily a spiritual issue • Faith and healing were together • The priest was the healer • The temple was the place of healing

With the rise of Science • Faith and science became separated • Religion and healing went separate ways • Faith is now “spiritual,” private, for eternity • Medicine is “secular,” practical, impersonal, and scientific • Few people see the interface between physical and spiritual realms

WESTERN BIO-MEDICAL MODEL • Isaiah 28:20 – The bed is too short to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to wrap around you. • Why is the bio-medical way of healing too short and too narrow?

BIO-MEDICAL MODEL OF HEALING • Focus is on disease, not on the person who is ill • Focus is on cure of the disease, not on restoration of the sick person to health • Neglects emotional, social, and spiritual concerns of the sick person • It is a fragmented approach

Results • Evidence-based medicine – this is good • Depersonalization of sick persons : we treat organs, lab results, not people – this is bad • Depersonalization of health professionals : we become technicians – this is bad • Commercialization of medicine : a pill for every pain – this is worse

BODY • Physical 2. SOUL Psycho-logical 4. SOCIAL Relationships 3. SPIRIT Spiritual

CAREGIVERS BODY SOUL PHYSICIAN COUNSELOR Office: 2800 Medical Park Blvd Office: 194 Broadway. SOCIAL SPIRIT PASTORS PRIESTS SOCIAL WORKER Office: 1260 Quillen Blvd.. Suite 201 Office: Christ Community Church.

Divided Care • Care for each of these four dimensions is separate • Different caregivers for each dimension • Different locations, appointments, fee structures, etc. • Therefore no unified care

Interactions • What happens in one dimension of life affects the other three • The relationship may be cause or effect • Without care for all dimensions, healing and restoration to wholeness do not occur

SOUL BODY SOCIAL SPIRIT

BODY SOUL Hypertension; Heart Disease Chronic pain; inflammation Auto-immune disorders Digestive problems Diabetes Malignancies Many infections Fear; Worries; Anxiety Anger; Bitterness Resentment; Hostility Shame; Guilt Jealousy; Envy Grief SOCIAL SPIRIT Dysfunctional relationships Loss of significant other Divorce Abuse Poverty Unemployment Lack of identity Meaninglessness Poor self-image Depression Sense of rejection Loneliness

BODY SOUL Hypertension; Heart Disease Chronic pain; inflammation Auto-immune disorders Digestive problems Malignancies Many infections Fear; Worries; Anxiety Anger; Bitterness Resentment; Hostility Shame; Guilt Jealousy; Envy Grief SOCIAL SPIRIT Dysfunctional relationships Loss of significant other Divorce Abuse Poverty Unemployment Distorted view of God Lack of identity; Meaninglessness Poor self-image Depression Sense of rejection Loneliness

Conclusion • Problems of soul, spirit, or relationships can affect the body by • 1. Producing physical symptoms and illness • 2. Aggravating existing diseases • 3. Impeding recovery from illness

What can we do to care for the whole person? • Learn how to take a personal and spiritual history • Learn how to explain these dynamics to sick persons • Train spiritual caregivers to work in the clinic as part of the team

A team approach • Health providers who understand wholeness • Lay caregivers trained in spiritual care • Regular consultations between them • Remove the lines between physical, psychological, social and spiritual care • Much prayer

The Team Religious communities Family Medical staff Spiritual caregivers Nursing staff Friends Social services Administrative staff

Whole person care in the clinic J E J E S U S U S MEDICAL SOCIAL EMOTIONAL SPIRITUAL

BODY SOUL Hypertension; Heart Disease Chronic pain; inflammation Auto-immune disorders Digestive problems Malignancies Many infections Fear; Worries; Anxiety Anger; Bitterness Resentment; Hostility Shame; Guilt Jealousy; Envy Grief CARE SOCIAL SPIRIT Dysfunctional relationships Divorce Loss of significant other Abuse Poverty Unemployment Lack of identity; meaninglessness Poor self-image Depression Sense of rejection Loneliness

Results of Whole Person Care • Improvement or healing of the whole person • Restoration to partial or complete functional wholeness • Bringing faith and science, the church and medicine back together

We must make a huge paradigm shift • From thinking technologically to thinking wholistically • From a focus on disease to a focus on the person • From curing to healing • Shifting paradigms IS NOT EASY • It involves changing thinking and habits

A Wholistic Clinical Attitude • “God, what are you doing in Mrs. Smith’s life?” • “Where do you want me to fit in?” • “What medical and spiritual care should I use with her?”

Conclusion Healing of the heart - mind, soul, spirit, and relationships - FAVORS [not guarantees] healing of the body.

Question • How do you see this fitting into your own practice or situation? • List the advantages and difficulties • When you were sick in the past, who were your caregivers and what did they do for you? • Did you have other personal concerns that were not addressed? • How do you feel that could have been done?

CARING FOR THE WHOLE PERSON