WASHINGTON (Jan. 20, 2011)—The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health (GWish) has received a $175, 851 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation to convene a working group of 30 subject-matter experts, in the areas of medicine, nursing, chaplaincy, social work, allied health, healthcare economics, insurance, policy, law, workforce, education, and ethics, to address the role of spirituality and health in creating more compassionate systems of care. The goal of the working group is to bring together clinicians, administrators, insurance companies and policymakers to authenticate and validate inter-professional spiritual care as a viable model for compassionate, whole person care and to develop strategies for its integration into healthcare policy. The title of the grant is: “Integrating Caring Attitudes in the Nation’s Health Care System.”
“Today's healthcare system can often lead to fragmented care, overburdened healthcare professionals, and patients who find the system uncaring and isolating,” said Christina Puchalski, M.D. '94, RESD '97, director of GWish and professor of Medicine in the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. “Spirituality may help patients cope with illness and may support healthcare professionals in their vocation to serve their patients.”
The outcomes identified for each session will give George Washington University the data and messages required to respond to opportunities for input on healthcare policy and clear strategies for integrating spiritual care in the nation's healthcare system. The goal is to promote a health system that emphasizes health and healing and a system that promotes compassionate care, which respects the dignity of those who give and receive care, and which is based in relationship-centered care.
