Spiritual Health Graded Short Paper
In this short, self-reflection paper you will discuss your learning experience of developing awareness, understanding, and respect for patients from diverse religious and spiritual backgrounds. You will also need to consider your intellectual and character development so far as an undergraduate who is becoming more familiar with various religious perspectives. You have already recognized that individual patients’ healthcare needs connect with their religious and spiritual needs. These connections between religion and health have been revealed through the case studies in our course and/or your healthcare interactions with diverse populations of patients. Taking this a step further, you can identify new ways to increase your awareness and skill in addressing the religious and spiritual needs of patients.
You will draw upon the experiences described in an article by Elizabeth Barber in the New Yorker magazine,
“The Plight of a Hospital Chaplain During the Coronavirus Pandemic.” Difficulties that chaplains experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to change how they cared for patients. You will explore creative ways that chaplains and other healthcare professionals might care for patients with whom they cannot be physically present due to contagion risks and examine the repercussions of these changes. You will envision applying contextually appropriate behaviors, tools, techniques, and dispositions in healthcare contexts that have been altered during the COVID-19 pandemic. By synthesizing and discussing approaches to patient-centered care during this historic pandemic, you will increase your ability to innovate and adapt your own approach to caring for patients and their belief systems when you’re are faced with obstacles.