When Medicine and Religion Meet at the Bedside of Critically Ill Cancer Patients, Do They Run Parallel, Intersect or Crash with Each Other?
Led by Susan Gaeta, M.D., FACP, Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; Emily Owen, M.Div., Staff Chaplain, Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, Houston, Texas; and Peggy Determeyer, Ph.D., McGee Fellow in Bioethics and Aging, Hope and Healing Center, Houston, TX.
At the foundation of both medicine and religion are hope and healing.
When medicine and religion meet at the beside of critically ill cancer patients, do they run parallel, intersect or crash with each other? How are the foundational issues of hope and healing appropriated by patients and their caregivers?
This workshop will include three real-life case presentations of patients with cancer who were admitted to an intensive care unit by the physician who was involved in the healthcare of each of the patients and participated in the family meetings to discuss goals of care. Before the case presentations a brief review of the current published literature on religious coping, cancer and end of life care will be presented to serve as a background (reference) for the discussion of the cases.
Subsequently the physician who has published and presented nationally on end of life issues in critically ill cancer patients, a hospital staff chaplain who works in the ICU and EC and has a BA in Communication Arts Speech Emphasis and minor in Religion, and a retired chaplain who is the current McGee Fellow in Bioethics and Aging, will lead a discussion of the religious commitments of each of the patients and how they factored into the decision making process regarding the continuation of aggressive treatment, withdrawal of life sustaining care and/or the transition to comfort care.
After the discussion of the case presentations, once again both presenters will share resources that can assist in facilitating decision making in similar circumstances and solicit feedback from participants.
At the foundation of both medicine and religion are hope and healing.
When medicine and religion meet at the beside of critically ill cancer patients, do they run parallel, intersect or crash with each other? How are the foundational issues of hope and healing appropriated by patients and their caregivers?
This workshop will include three real-life case presentations of patients with cancer who were admitted to an intensive care unit by the physician who was involved in the healthcare of each of the patients and participated in the family meetings to discuss goals of care. Before the case presentations a brief review of the current published literature on religious coping, cancer and end of life care will be presented to serve as a background (reference) for the discussion of the cases.
Subsequently the physician who has published and presented nationally on end of life issues in critically ill cancer patients, a hospital staff chaplain who works in the ICU and EC and has a BA in Communication Arts Speech Emphasis and minor in Religion, and a retired chaplain who is the current McGee Fellow in Bioethics and Aging, will lead a discussion of the religious commitments of each of the patients and how they factored into the decision making process regarding the continuation of aggressive treatment, withdrawal of life sustaining care and/or the transition to comfort care.
After the discussion of the case presentations, once again both presenters will share resources that can assist in facilitating decision making in similar circumstances and solicit feedback from participants.