California Is The First State To Require Spiritual Care In Health Care

If you get sick in California, and you are covered by the state's Medi-Cal health insurance, you will be pleased to know that your health care just got better. California is the first state to recognize that spiritual care is a standalone discipline in health care and a trained and certified palliative care chaplain must be available for any patient who wants one. Spirituality, defined in the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care is a "fundamental aspect of compassionate, patient-and family-centered care that honors the dignity of all persons." The California Department of Health Care Services policy now calls for a palliative care team to meet the physical, medical, psychosocial, emotional and spiritual needs of you and your family; and recommends that the team include, but is not limited to a doctor of medicine or osteopathy, a registered nurse and/or nurse practitioner, a social worker, as well as a chaplain. But before you jump to the conclusion, as people often do, that the word chaplain means religion, understand that trained and certified health care chaplains care for people of any and all religious persuasions as well as those who are not religious. Their work is about providing spiritual and emotional comfort. A chaplain can help you talk about your concerns, help you communicate with doctors, and bring a sense of calm to situation that worries or frightens you. A health care chaplain can provide a calm reassurance and source of strength. Pal...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news