Spirituality and religiosity are recognized as factors that contribute to the quality of life and coping strategies in many persons facing life-threatening illnesses. These life-threatening events can also give rise to spiritual distress. When combined with chronic or acute pain and other physical and psychological symptoms, spiritual distress can be a component of a patient’s total suffering, which the Palliative Care Team (The Collective Soul) seeks to alleviate, enhancing the Human spirit and creating a healing environment in the middle of the distressful situation. This course aims to provide a better understanding of the Palliative Care Team’s role in enhancing the human spirit and relieving patients’ bio-psychosocial and spiritual suffering.
The Collective Soul Symposium is an annual conference co-sponsored by the Institute and the Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation & Integrative Medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center. This virtual educational event provides community-based hospital chaplains, ministers, and other interested healthcare professionals with skills for a better understanding of the Palliative Care Team's role in embracing the human spirit of patients with advanced illness and multiple physical and psychosocial, spiritual, and religious issues.