Dear Editor:
Thank you for publishing Al Heniger's essay on The Evolution of Palliative Care. I wholeheartedly believe that devoted care is the obvious ideal model upon which to focus.
Please let me repeat the opening quotations in an article here last July -- along with the endnote explaining those quotations.
Spiritual care comes from the heart after the head has done its homework.
palliative care … should form part of the care of all who are ill, mentally or physically.
The endnote was,
"The opening quotations are from Henry T. Dom, Ph.D., as cited in
Dom H. 'Vaisnava Hindu and Ayurvedic approaches to caring for the dying: An interview with Henry Dom.' by Romer AL, Heller KS. Innovations in
End-of-Life Care, 1999 Nov;1(6); http://www2.edc.org/lastacts/archives/archivesNov99/intlpersp.asp ;
'…he is helping to create a palliative care unit for the newly established Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai, and is one of the founders of a
planned hospice and residential home in Vrndavan, a small village in northeast India.' "
The BhaktiVedanta Hospice in Vrindavan, India, opened in August 2010 -- followed by the similar BhaktiVedanta Care Center in Durban, South
Africa in October 2011. Perhaps North America will be next to host a BhaktiVedanta Hospice.
The next issue of the Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling will carry my review of the BhaktiVedanta palliative care training manual:
The Final Journey: Complete Hospice Care for the Departing Vaisnava. 2nd revised edition. Susan Pattinson. (Badger, CA: Torchlight Publishing
Co, 2011). xviii+252pp. $12.95. (paperback).
Robert Charles Powell, MD, PhD
"Report from India: A Pastoral Care Department that Runs Its Own Hospital." 18 July 2011.
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Robert Charles Powell, MD, PhD is the leading historian of the clinical pastoral movement. Many of his published writings are posted on the Pastoral Report. Readers can use the PR's search engine found on the left side-bar to locate his articles. As a practicing psychiatrist, his writings reflect his daily investment in his clinical practice of providing psychotherapy and care to his patients. Contact Dr. Powell by clicking here. -Perry Miller, Editor