Listen and You Shall Hear: Lessons from Theology and Pastoral Care

TL;DR

This paper explores how integrating theology and pastoral care can help restore the moral and spiritual dimensions of healthcare.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel integration of theological and pastoral care lessons into modern clinical and educational healthcare settings.

Findings

The spiritual aspects of care have been neglected due to healthcare commercialization.

Integrating theology and pastoral care can help reclaim the moral dimensions of caregiving.

Lessons from theology offer practical guidance for clinicians and educators.

Abstract

Medicine is inherently a spiritual profession; patients and health care professionals both seek meaning and connections beyond just themselves, especially in the context of crises. Yet, the spiritual aspects of care have fallen to the wayside, with the commercialization of the business of health care. In this brief perspective, I integrate lessons from theology and pastoral care into a busy clinical and educational setting to help reclaim the moral dimensions of the care giving relationship.