With the rise of chronic illness, increased life expectancy, and complex medical technology, palliative care offers quality of life to those facing life ending or life limiting illness. In this course, students will read, discuss, and engage the basic concepts of palliative care. Students will explore contemporary issues in healthcare that challenge patients coping with advanced illness. This course prepares caregivers to advance in their practice of tending to those facing serious illness.
Students who will work with seriously ill patients must understand the essential components of good palliative care. Students will come away with this understanding and will find it a foundation to build upon through other coursework and life experiences.
As people live longer and with more chronic illnesses, palliative care is becoming more and more a part of a person's care. It is essential that people of faith understand and engage with palliative care in their communities so faith has a voice in this critical time in people's lives.
Jesus speaks of the "body, soul, mind, and strength" as interrelated elements of a person's being. Palliative care is concerned for the whole person.
The rise of palliative care reflects a work of God in making the healthcare system more concerned with the whole person. For spiritual caregivers to share in this work is to join God where He is actively at work.
A person who engages palliative care is likely struggling with critical life and death matters. The well-trained spiritual caregiver will know how to meet those specific spiritual needs.
Palliative care is committed to care for all. This provides the spiritual caregiver the opportunity to engage people of diverse faith and cultural backgrounds.
Students will develop skills that will help them meet particular needs of seriously ill patients and will help the student reflect on his or her own mortality and care needs as they age.
Students will move beyond the virtual classroom to seek out palliative care as it is working in their own communities and context.
