The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health    |     home  

Proposed Changes in Healthcare

GWish seeks to stimulate changes on the individual practitioner level and within the field of medicine and society.

 

1. Physicians and Other Healthcare Providers Will:

Recognize and accept that they are entrusted with the care of:

the physical

the emotional

the social, and

the spiritual aspects of their patients in all phases of patients' lives;

Support patients in their suffering and in the midst of their existential pain;

Address spiritual values and beliefs as part of the routine medical history;

Form collaborative partnerships with chaplains, clergy and other spiritual care providers; and

Recognize that their own spirituality plays a key role in their professional lives and affects how they interact with their patients and colleagues.

 

2. Medicine and Healthcare Will Include:

A field of spirituality and health whereby physicians and other healthcare providers can further their academic and professional interests in order to improve the care of patients;

An increased amount of scholarly research by a variety of disciplines on the roles of spirituality and health;

Health administrators and healthcare policymakers who recognize the importance of spirituality in healthcare; and

Healthcare training programs in spirituality and health that span all disciplines.

 

3. Societal Changes:

A recognition of the role of spirituality in healthcare, and particularly in chronic illness and end-of-life care; and

An increased awareness by and an empowering of the non-medical public regarding the role of spirituality, particularly in chronic illness and end-of-life care.

Top of Page