“I Want to Make it Right”
A 46 Year-old Woman with End Stage Renal Disease and Her Australian Aboriginal Partner Make Significant Choices
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.34300Keywords:
Aboriginal, case study, chaplain, end of life care, ritual, spiritual assessmentAbstract
Our case study subject, “Ruby”, is a 46 year-old female suffering from a chronic renal condition, admitted to Royal Melbourne Hospital. As she, along with partner Charlie and daughter Amanda, received care from several members of Pastoral and Spiritual Care Services, as well as the Aboriginal Liaison Officer, we have decided to present a co-written case study, with each participant writing their own view in their own voice. Ruby’s care included all the interventions recognized by Spiritual Health Victoria: spiritual assessment, spiritual support, spiritual counselling or guidance and spiritual ritual. 2 This latter intervention became very significant as Ruby declined, receiving palliative care, and included both religious ritual and legacy creation. On paper – or the hospital electronic database – Ruby’s admission looks like failure, but as this case study reveals, within her physical decline and treatment, there was significant emotional and spiritual healing, leading to a relatively “good death”.
References
Augsburger D. W. (1986) Pastoral Counselling Across Cultures. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster/John Knox Press.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2014) “Losing My religion?” Available at: www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features30Nov+2013 (accessed 14 July 2017).
Fitchett, G. (1993) Assessing Spiritual Needs. Minnneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress.
Glenister, D. (2012) “Creative Spaces in Palliative Care Facilities: Tradition, Culture, and Experience”. American Journal of Hospice Care 29(2): 89–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049909111412581
Glenister, D., and M. Prewer (2016) “Capturing Religious Identity During Hospital Admission: A Valid Practice in Our Increasingly Secular Society?” Australian Health Review 29(2): 89–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049909111412581
Gutgsell, K. J., M. Schluchter, S. Margevicius, P. A. DeGolia, B. McLaughlin, M. Harris, J. Mecklenburg and C. Wiencek (2013) “Music Therapy Reduces Pain in Palliative Care Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial”. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 45(5): 822–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2012.05.008
Johnson, C. E., R. Singer, M. Masson, M. Sellars and W. Silvester (2015) “Palliative Care Health Professionals’ Experience of Caring for Patients with Advance Care Directives”. Australian Health Review 39(2): 154–59. https://doi.org/10.1071/AH14119
Kellehear, A., E. Pugh and L. Atter (2009) “Home Away from Home? A Case Study of Bedside Objects in a Hospice”. International Journal of Palliative Nursing 15(3): 148–52. https://doi.org/10.12968/ijpn.2009.15.3.41095
Lartey, E. Y. (2006) Pastoral Theology in an Intercultural World. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.
Levine, S. K. (2014) “Poeisis, Praise and Lament: Celebration, Mourning and the ‘Architecture’ of Expressive Arts Therapy”. In Grief and the Expressive Arts: Practices for Creating Meaning, eds B. E. Thompson and R. A. Neimeyer, 14–18. New York: Routledge.
Massey, K., M. J. D. Barnes, D. Villnes, J. D. Goldstein, A. L. Pierson, C. Scherer, B. Vander Laan and W. T. Summerfelt (2015) “What Do I Do? Developing Taxonomy of Chaplaincy Activities and Interventions for Spiritual Care in Intensive Care Unit Palliative Care”. BMC Palliative Care 14(10). http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12904-015-0008-0
McConnell, T., and S. Porter (2016) “Music Therapy for Palliative Care: A Realist Review”. Palliative and Supportive Care 1(11): 639–45.
Miller, J. C. (2009) “Towards Wellbeing: Creative Inquiries into an Experiential Arts-Based Healing Practice in Aboriginal Contexts”. PhD thesis, Southern Cross University. Available at: http://epubs.scu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1107&context=theses (accessed 14 July 2017).
Piderman, K. M., C. R. Breitkopf, S. M. Jenkins, M. I. Lapid, G. M. Kwete, T. T. Sytsma, L. A. Lovejoy, T. J. Yoder and A. Jatoi (2017) “The Impact of a Spiritual Legacy Intervention in Patients with Brain Cancers and Other Neurologic Illnesses and Their Support Persons”. Psycho-Oncology 26(3): 346–53. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.4031
Puchalski, C., and B. Ferrell (2010) Making Healthcare Whole: Integrating Spirituality into Patient Care. West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Press.
Rumbold, B. (2013) “Spiritual Assessment and Health Care Chaplaincy”. Christian Bioethics 19(3): 251–69. https://doi.org/10.1093/cb/cbt027
Seitz, R. J., and H.-F. Angel (2015) “Psychology of Religion and Spirituality: Meaning-Making and Processes of Believing”. Journal of Religion, Brain and Behaviour 5(2): 139–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2014.891249
Sinclair, S., K. Beamer, T. Hack, S. McClement, S. Bouchal, H. Chochinov and N. Hagen (2016) “Sympathy, Empathy, and Compassion: A Grounded Theory Study of Palliative Care Patients’ Understandings, Experiences, and Preferences”. Palliative Medicine 31(5): 437–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216316663499
Wood, M. J., A. Molassiotis and S. Payne (2011) “What Research Evidence is There for the Use of Art Therapy in the Management of Symptoms in Adults with Cancer? A Systematic Review”. Psycho-Oncology 20(2): 135–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pon.1722
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2014) “Losing My religion?” Available at: www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features30Nov+2013 (accessed 14 July 2017).
Fitchett, G. (1993) Assessing Spiritual Needs. Minnneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress.
Glenister, D. (2012) “Creative Spaces in Palliative Care Facilities: Tradition, Culture, and Experience”. American Journal of Hospice Care 29(2): 89–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049909111412581
Glenister, D., and M. Prewer (2016) “Capturing Religious Identity During Hospital Admission: A Valid Practice in Our Increasingly Secular Society?” Australian Health Review 29(2): 89–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049909111412581
Gutgsell, K. J., M. Schluchter, S. Margevicius, P. A. DeGolia, B. McLaughlin, M. Harris, J. Mecklenburg and C. Wiencek (2013) “Music Therapy Reduces Pain in Palliative Care Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial”. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 45(5): 822–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2012.05.008
Johnson, C. E., R. Singer, M. Masson, M. Sellars and W. Silvester (2015) “Palliative Care Health Professionals’ Experience of Caring for Patients with Advance Care Directives”. Australian Health Review 39(2): 154–59. https://doi.org/10.1071/AH14119
Kellehear, A., E. Pugh and L. Atter (2009) “Home Away from Home? A Case Study of Bedside Objects in a Hospice”. International Journal of Palliative Nursing 15(3): 148–52. https://doi.org/10.12968/ijpn.2009.15.3.41095
Lartey, E. Y. (2006) Pastoral Theology in an Intercultural World. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.
Levine, S. K. (2014) “Poeisis, Praise and Lament: Celebration, Mourning and the ‘Architecture’ of Expressive Arts Therapy”. In Grief and the Expressive Arts: Practices for Creating Meaning, eds B. E. Thompson and R. A. Neimeyer, 14–18. New York: Routledge.
Massey, K., M. J. D. Barnes, D. Villnes, J. D. Goldstein, A. L. Pierson, C. Scherer, B. Vander Laan and W. T. Summerfelt (2015) “What Do I Do? Developing Taxonomy of Chaplaincy Activities and Interventions for Spiritual Care in Intensive Care Unit Palliative Care”. BMC Palliative Care 14(10). http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12904-015-0008-0
McConnell, T., and S. Porter (2016) “Music Therapy for Palliative Care: A Realist Review”. Palliative and Supportive Care 1(11): 639–45.
Miller, J. C. (2009) “Towards Wellbeing: Creative Inquiries into an Experiential Arts-Based Healing Practice in Aboriginal Contexts”. PhD thesis, Southern Cross University. Available at: http://epubs.scu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1107&context=theses (accessed 14 July 2017).
Piderman, K. M., C. R. Breitkopf, S. M. Jenkins, M. I. Lapid, G. M. Kwete, T. T. Sytsma, L. A. Lovejoy, T. J. Yoder and A. Jatoi (2017) “The Impact of a Spiritual Legacy Intervention in Patients with Brain Cancers and Other Neurologic Illnesses and Their Support Persons”. Psycho-Oncology 26(3): 346–53. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.4031
Puchalski, C., and B. Ferrell (2010) Making Healthcare Whole: Integrating Spirituality into Patient Care. West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Press.
Rumbold, B. (2013) “Spiritual Assessment and Health Care Chaplaincy”. Christian Bioethics 19(3): 251–69. https://doi.org/10.1093/cb/cbt027
Seitz, R. J., and H.-F. Angel (2015) “Psychology of Religion and Spirituality: Meaning-Making and Processes of Believing”. Journal of Religion, Brain and Behaviour 5(2): 139–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2014.891249
Sinclair, S., K. Beamer, T. Hack, S. McClement, S. Bouchal, H. Chochinov and N. Hagen (2016) “Sympathy, Empathy, and Compassion: A Grounded Theory Study of Palliative Care Patients’ Understandings, Experiences, and Preferences”. Palliative Medicine 31(5): 437–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216316663499
Wood, M. J., A. Molassiotis and S. Payne (2011) “What Research Evidence is There for the Use of Art Therapy in the Management of Symptoms in Adults with Cancer? A Systematic Review”. Psycho-Oncology 20(2): 135–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pon.1722
Published
2018-04-12
Issue
Section
Case Studies
How to Cite
Glenister, D. (2018). “I Want to Make it Right”: A 46 Year-old Woman with End Stage Renal Disease and Her Australian Aboriginal Partner Make Significant Choices. Health and Social Care Chaplaincy, 5(2), 224-240. https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.34300
