Analysis According to Catholic Social Teaching Principles: Hospice

Introduction

The Roman Catholic Church is among the oldest religious structure in the world. The Catholic teachings and doctrines are taught to believers who are headed by an unseen Christ but under the authority of a pope, who work with priests and bishops. The Catholic belief in God assumes that He is the one that gives and takes life, and no person has the right to take their life or that of another (Davies et al., 2005). The Catholic faith allows its members to seek medical attention in case one of them is suffering from a health issue. Hence, treatment and admission in healthcare centers are accepted. On the other hand, the concept of hospice care is also accepted among the Catholic faithful as a way of extending support and care to people that have a terminal disease. A hospice care center as an institution that meets the spiritual and emotional needs of patients that have a terminal illness. The hospice care unit ensures that patients placed under their care are comfortable and can have a small home away from their loved ones. Historically, the Roman Catholic faithful perceived the hospice care centers as places where travelers or the seriously sick, would stay while on transit or in their last days on earth. Pilgrims who took journeys of faith were also expected to spend their time at the hospice care centers before continuing with their journey.

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Nowadays, the ideology of a hospice has gone through a tremendous transformation (Gage et al., 2016). The Catholic faithful consider it as one of the best options for admitting a person who needs constant and professional medical attention. Some of the people placed in the hospice care centers suffer from incurable diseases, and since most of them are incapacitated, it would be good to provide them with love and care in their final days, compared to admitting them in healthcare facilities or having the patients stay at home. The hospice care centers ensure that patients admitted in their facilities get quality services by employing qualified staffs in the medical field as well as other areas, with the aim of improving the environment where the patients live. Davies et al. (2005) argue that hospice care centers focus on the management and reduction of pain due to the chronic illnesses that patients placed under their care have, which helps maintain the peace and happiness experienced in the remaining time. The Catholic social teaching principles of a hospice care center recognize it as a setting that allows patients to spend their final days with respect. It enables patients to to receive a dignified treatment while being provided with the necessary assistance, with the aim of upholding humanity.

Catholic Social Teaching Principles: Hospice

According to the Catholic social teachings, every person has a right to live, and despite the medical condition that an individual has, he or she is expected to receive the proper care and attention (Gage et al., 2016). The principles targeting the moral behavior of healthcare givers at hospice care centers emphasize on the responsibility they have of ensuring that patients under their care have water and food. This is because some patients are unable to feed themselves due to the medical condition or other limiting factors like their age. Morally, it is considered wrong to subject patients to death through starvation. Callahan (2005) insists that the main role of hospice care is the provision of care and observation of humanity and moral rules that govern the way people live with each other. However, the principles of the Catholic faith recognize that it is a moral option for the caregivers to engage in nutrition for the patients, some of which is burdensome to the person receiving the treatment. Further, if the nutrition and feeding session ignites a form of suffering and discomfort to the patient, then it would be the caregivers to make the option of continuing or doing away with the treatment.

Gage et al. (2016) mention that in as much as the basic need of food and water should be provided to the patients, it is important to note that during the dying process, an individual has no or little desire for water or food. Hence, when a caregiver forces the patient to feed, the person may become iller. This may increase the amount of pain in their body or trigger reactions in their systems like constipation or vomiting. Such would destabilize a patient even though they have not fully recovered which is equal to an inhumane act. Administering the medication to patients according to the doctor's prescriptions also helps them deal with the pain (Davies et al., 2005). It makes it easy for them to survive longer and have a smooth transition between life and death. For instance, the use of anxiety medication help calms the patients and reconcile with the fact that life is escaping their bodies. Caregivers are equipped with knowledge in ways they should take care of the patients placed in the hospice care centers. Most of them have medical knowledge and understand that medication should be administered to patients based on the prescription requirements (Davies et al., 2005). The Catholic principles of social care in hospice centers emphasize on the need to continue giving medication to the patients as long as the medicine has no possibility of reducing the number of days that one has on earth. It means that death to patients should occur naturally as opposed to assisted death.

The debate on the role that hospice care centers play in the society continues daily. Some scholars argue that hospice centers hasten the death process of ailing patients while some maintain that it offers the sick people a chance to access dignified and special care in their last days. Callahan (2005) suggests that hospice centers help address spiritual, emotional, psychological, and physical needs of the patients placed under their care. Since the Catholic Church recognizes and upholds the role that hospice care centers have in the life of critically and incurable patients, then it leaves its followers with the option of deciding whether to place their loved one under their service or not. This is because it narrows down to the resources available for a family as well as care options for their loved one. The most important aspect that one needs to consider before placing their loved one under hospice care is to understand the principles within which such an organization operates. Catholic founded, or other religion-based hospice care centers would be better options than those operated and managed by individuals.

Family Members Experience with Hospice in Nursing Home

Gage et al. (2016) state that people have had different experiences with hospice centers after admitting their loved one in the centers. This is because the experience, attitude, and perception of each person towards the care extended to their love are different. Gage et al. (2016) investigation into the experiences and perceptions that family members who have their loved ones placed in hospice care are diverse. With analysis and interview of more than one hundred and seventy family members, the results revealed that communication between the management and the extended family members helped reduce the negativity and assumptions made towards the care extended to the patients in the hospice centers. Most family members want to have their loved ones treated with special attention, at the expense of others who rely on the caregivers' services (Callahan, 2005). This is one of the areas that cause conflicts between family members and the management of hospice centers. Further, some family members blame the caregivers on the deteriorated health of their loved one, assuming that they had a direct role to play. With constant communication on the status and condition of a patient, it becomes easy for the family members to understand that some things are beyond the control of the caregivers.

According to Gage et al. (2016), most family members perceived the care extended to their loved ones as good since they trusted the professional approach the staffs at the hospice centers adopted. However, despite the care and attention extended to patients, some family members still thought that the staffs needed to do more. The conflicts arose when a family member visited the hospice center and did not find any member of staff with their loved one. The assumption that their loved one had been neglected was high, whereas the staffs emphasized that all patients had a right to receive equal attention. However, with proper communication on the management methods that the staffs adopted, then family members were able to perceive the treatment differently. Most family members are actively involved in caring for their loved ones' despite being placed in hospice units (Gage et al., 2016). Most of them visited the hospice centers regularly and took part in feeding or bathing their loved ones. However, family members were expected to follow the guidelines of the caregivers and avoid engaging in arguments about what they preferred their loved one to receive, as opposed to what was right, depending on the medical condition of a patient. The combined effort of the caregivers and their family members made the process of taking care of the patients easier.

Holistic Home Hospice: Caring for a Dying Father

A dying patient has been exposed to treatment in healthcare facilities which have proved futile and given a possibility of living for a few months (Callahan, 2005). Hence, children or relatives of the man have a choice of admitting such a patient in hospice care centers and help accord the individual a chance to live a dignified life until such a time they die. This helps to relieve any suffering or pain that they might experience. In addition, the caregivers at the hospice ensure that a dying father is comfortable within the facility, and if in a position to engage, then such a patient can interact with the children or relatives as much as they want (Davies et al., 2005). For instance, children of the dying father can help feed or bathe their father who is a way of spending time with the patient before he dies. The management and caregivers also have a responsibility of ensuring that they update the children and relatives of the dying man about the status of his health as well as any developments that might take place in his life. It helps ensure that the children are psychologically prepared about the possibility of death taking the patient at any time.

According to Callahan (2005), some challenges come with taking care of a patient. This is mostly possible when children need to take care of a dying father and do not have any professional assistance, and the only option they have in place such a parent in a hospice center. This helps reduce the pain, agony, and depression that may affect children whose father has a terminal ailment. In addition, the professional treatment and approach that the caregivers give the patient come in handy due to the knowledge they possess. Callahan (2005) emphasizes that placing a dying father in the hospice facility ensures that the staffs address the religious beliefs of the patient and his children, the cultural beliefs, as well as the emotional state of the patient and the loved ones. Staffs at the hospice ensure that the patient receives the privacy they need like in the provision of a room. This ensures that a dying father gets holistic approach care that ensures that he is comfortable despite being away from home. Even though death finally takes the dying father, it becomes a successful process and experience for the children to have ensured that their parent gets the care he needs in his last days.

Children are encouraged by the hospice care staffs on ways they can accept the death of...