Communities of faith have done well to prepare people how to live and to prepare people to face eternity. What about the transition from this life to the next? Dying well is becoming increasingly difficult in an age of advanced medical technology. In this course, students will engage the societal and cultural challenges around end of life issues. Students will engage in their own end of life planning and will develop the advanced skills necessary to leading conversations around end of life care. This course will enable participants to impact their communities in a positive way by helping bring awareness to the possibility of dying well.
Students working with seriously ill patients must be equipped to engage challenging conversations around end of life planning. This essential skill will help students grow in their specialty skill set required for advanced caregiving.
With end-of-life costs rising significantly in recent decades, our society recognizes the need for advanced planning around these costly issues. The engagement of Christ followers in these conversations not only meets an important public need, but allows believers to engage others around spiritual values, faith, and meaning.
Biblical principles of stewardship, care for others, care for the sick, and relief of suffering undergird the importance of effective advanced care planning.
God is at work in the lives of sick persons, and to care for the spiritual needs of ill persons is to join God in a most essential mission.
The ministry of advanced life care planning is about applying one's values and beliefs to an unknown, but specific, future context of illness.
Illness and end of life matters are universal to the human experience and touch people of all faiths, cultures, and backgrounds.
Students will develop specific skills to enable them to have difficult, but rewarding conversations about one of life's most challenging subjects.
Students will engage in the practice of advanced life care planning in the development of their skill.
