title: Illness: an opportunity for spiritual growth.
abstract: Spirituality is an innate aspect of being human, and every patient has the potential for spiritual growth through suffering from an illness. However, spirituality and spiritual care are rarely mentioned in the field of medicine, either because their definition can be ambiguous or because their nature can be highly personal. In a departure from the traditional biomedical view of health care, the author in this paper explores another aspect of the patient, hoping to inspire caregivers to be more attentive to the growth of a patient's spirituality. Furthermore, citing several clinical examples and by extrapolating the trajectory of human adaptation to illness, the author also delineates the proper compass of spiritual care and uncovers the distinction between spirituality, religion, and psyche.
authors.affiliation: Division of Palliative Care, Department of Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. mstu@isca.vghks.gov.tw
authors.forename: Ming-Shium
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Tu
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006694:Holistic Health; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008016:Life Change Events; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D012803:Sick Role; D029181:Spirituality