In a survey of medical providers, difficulty identifying patients who could benefit from spiritual assessment ranked as the third most common barrier to providing spiritual care.
I’d like to mention 3 ways to help you identify patients who could benefit from spiritual care.
1. Begin with the mindset of bringing healing, not just treatment.
Often in a patient visit, the physician is eager to run the agenda. Within the first couple minutes we have a good idea of where the encounter will go and there’s not much margin for deviation. Productivity, precision and efficiency are prized. Maintaining control is essential.
Spiritual care runs contrary to the typical mindset of a physician. It’s an understanding that God has made me a healer and his healing agent. How comfortable am I for God to upend my own agenda? Oswald Chambers puts it this way, “Keep your life so constantly in touch with God that his surprising power can break through at any point.”
2. Use a permission-based approach
Spiritual care invites the patient into the healing process. This kind of care is only as effective as the patient allows. Here are some questions one can ask to open up spiritual conversations.
– Some patients have found it helpful when I have prayed with them. Is that something that would be helpful for you?
– Can I talk to you about something in the Bible that may be helpful to your situation?
– Are you a religious or spiritual person?
– What keeps you going?
– Do you have a source of strength?
– What are you famous for?
– How have you been able to overcome significant challenges in your life?
I wouldn’t necessarily ask these questions out of the blue but when appropriate.
3. Consider spiritual care in the following scenarios:
– The patient who is in despair. Someone once said that despair is when tomorrow always looks like today. A meaningful conversation with a patient can restore hope and value to their life.
– The patient who is afraid. When a person of faith is afraid, they may turn to God in order to alleviate the fear. Prayer offered on behalf of a physician can have an instant effect in diminishing worries
– The patient who struggles with lifestyle change. Lifestyle change is difficult. Patients may not have even considered their faith as a way of changing lifestyle habits. A spiritual conversation can serve to motivate them to overcome these challenges.
Just the other day I had a patient in his early 20’s who wrote on his paper work “still trying to quit smoking.” We got to talking about kids and I mentioned how I had a 4 month old at home.
I got you beat, doc, he said. Apparently he had a 5 month old daughter at home. Though it had challenges he called it a “blessing.” The term blessing was not lost on me. I wanted to give a word of encouragement to help him to quit smoking.
So I plunged in. I asked him to think about the times in his life that most shaped him. It was probably times of loss and pain and heartache. And yet, in that moment of weakness there was divine strength.
He began to tear up as he shared with me: I’ve been an IV drug user for years. This is the first year I’ve been sober.
This man had been through addiction before. He knew how to overcome. By God’s help, I simply helped make that connection.
What are other patient scenarios where you have found it effective to provide spiritual care?
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