Spirituality and the good death
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32385/rpmgf.v40i6.13804Keywords:
Good death, Dignity, Spirituality, Religiosity, TranscendenceAbstract
The main purpose of this article, based on a literature review, is to discuss the valorization of spirituality in its various dimensions, with a view to its real contribution to easing the process of death. Spirituality, as an aspect of care and well-being of the patient and due to the inner strength and personal growth that it may bring about, constitutes an indispensable support in the proximity of death. The acceptance of death by the person at the end of his/her life is an essential factor for his/her tranquility and, concomitantly, a goal pursued by the caregivers and professionals involved. In this phase, the speech and the expression of feelings, as well as the search for transcendence with a view to dignity in the dying process and the achievement of the "good death", represent remarkable spiritual needs. It is necessary to find meaning by "rereading one's history". Death in the solitude of a hospital reigns and hardly assures the propitious conditions for the dignity required at the end of life, as it is understood as a loss in the fight against the disease, denouncing a mechanized and dehumanized way of dying. Spiritual needs at the end of life require the professional to integrate into a multidisciplinary team, the indispensable competence and awareness of the limits of his action. Knowing how to listen, be empathetic, and respond to the installed anguish is essential. In preterminal care, professionals should focus on knowing how to be and not on knowing what to do. It is in this phase of anticipation of death that it is possible to capture the unique and unique value of the person and their dignity.
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