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Impact of a contemplative end-of-life training program: Being with dying

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 November 2009

Cynda Hylton Rushton ,
Deborah E. Sellers ,
Karen S. Heller ,
Beverly Spring ,
Barbara M. Dossey  and
Joan Halifax
Cynda Hylton Rushton*
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland
Deborah E. Sellers
Affiliation:
Education Development Center, Inc., Newton, Massachusetts
Karen S. Heller
Affiliation:
Consultant, Framingham, Massachusetts
Beverly Spring
Affiliation:
Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Barbara M. Dossey
Affiliation:
Holistic Nursing Consultants, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Joan Halifax
Affiliation:
Abbott, Upaya Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Cynda Hylton Rushton, 2312 Henslowe Dr., Potomac, MD 20854. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objective:

Health care professionals report a lack of skills in the psychosocial and spiritual aspects of caring for dying people and high levels of moral distress, grief, and burnout. To address these concerns, the “Being with Dying: Professional Training Program in Contemplative End-of-Life Care” (BWD) was created. The premise of BWD, which is based on the development of mindfulness and receptive attention through contemplative practice, is that cultivating stability of mind and emotions enables clinicians to respond to others and themselves with compassion. This article describes the impact of BWD on the participants.

Methods:

Ninety-five BWD participants completed an anonymous online survey; 40 completed a confidential open-ended telephone interview.

Results:

Four main themes—the power of presence, cultivating balanced compassion, recognizing grief, and the importance of self-care—emerged in the interviews and were supported in the survey data. The interviewees considered BWD's contemplative and reflective practices meaningful, useful, and valuable and reported that BWD provided skills, attitudes, behaviors, and tools to change how they worked with the dying and bereaved.

Significance of results:

The quality of presence has the potential to transform the care of dying people and the caregivers themselves. Cultivating this quality within themselves and others allows clinicians to explore alternatives to exclusively intellectual, procedural, and task-oriented approaches when caring for dying people. BWD provides a rare opportunity to engage in practices and methods that cultivate the stability of mind and emotions that may facilitate compassionate care of dying patients, families, and caregivers.

Keywords

End of lifeProfessional educationContemplativeInterdisciplinary
Type
Original Articles
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , December 2009 , pp. 405 - 414
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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