Introduction
Healing hospital paradigm is a recent health care provision model that focuses on both recovery and return to wellness of the entire body. It differs from the cure model that strives to eradicate the disease. In addition to addressing the patient’s physical needs, the healing process needs to focus on the spiritual and emotional needs of the patient.
Components of a healing hospital and their relationship to spirituality.
According to Chapman (2003), a healing hospital refers to a concept where there is continuous chain loving care throughout an entire organization with skill and kindness froe every caregiver to all patients as well as among themselves. In this regard, a healing hospital is founded on the ancient belief that love is at the core of healing. Within this framework, the Golden Thread (which represents a symbol of humankind’s faith in God) spells that we find a balance between the demands of our human spirit and the state-of-the-art scientific advancements (Chapman, 2003). Health providers have a professional and spiritual obligation to extend their services to the patient’s heart and head. A nurse ought to be sensitive to the physical, emotional, spiritual, as well religious beliefs of the patient. Therefore, a hospital only qualifies to be described as healing if the Golden Thread is continuous. This is especially the case because the Golden Thread is the connecting element between the hospital staff, patients, and their families.
The healing hospital concept has three major distinct components: (1) a healing physical environment; (2) integration of work design and technology; and (3) culture of radical loving care (Eberst, 2008).
1. A healing physical environment
This component of a Healing Hospital deals with how caregivers provide care for their patients, and how the interact with families in their capacity as caregivers. The physical environment of a hospital needs to be conducive to the entire healing process, where it fosters speedy recovery of the patient (Chapman, 2003). Creating an environment of love, compassion, trust, safety, respect, trust, support goes a long way to help patients and their families to handle the stress and cope with illness.
Creating a healing hospital thus calls for putting into consideration aspects of environmental psychology, sociology, landscape architecture, geography, interior design, medicine, nursing and public health research. A spiritual healing environment is created to promote harmony of mind, spirit, and body. A quiet hospital environment that affords the patient a chance to rest and sleep is desirable. Such an environment is free of noise from loud rolling machines, overhead paging, high noise levels in nurses’ stations and hallways. According to Hutchinson (2011), a soothing hospital atmosphere serves to reduce and alleviate the physical and emotional outcomes related with hospitalization. This helps in preventing medical errors, promotes patient satisfaction and improves employee efficiency (Hutchinson, 2011).
2. Integration of work design & technology
Efficient integration of work design and technology enables the hospital staff to work more efficiently whilst offering additional security and privacy to the patients. This component is particularly crucial because the goal of patients coming to hospital is often to get appropriate treatment using the best medical technology available along with professional care from health providers. The structured process at a hospital thus needs to patient oriented as opposed to business-centered.
Today’s advanced technology and new medications allow the health care setting to provide excellent health solutions to patients, provide security, efficient services, and privacy at reduced cost. The location elevators as well departments such theatres and radiology among others are all critical in creating a healing hospital environment that appreciates the spiritual element of the patient. In sum, a healing hospital must focus on incorporating a balance of the most modern scientific innovations with the consistent consideration of providing care and love for the human spirit.
3. Culture of radical loving care
According to Erie Chapman, embracing a culture of Radical Loving Care is the most critical component to a healing hospital. The health providers play a role in creating a spiritual healing environment when they envelope the spirit and integrate real love, compassion, together with selflessness when attending to individual patients and dealing with co-workers (Chapman, 2003). Therefore, spirituality in a healing hospital is spread among senior management, middle management, lower management, employees, and patients. According to Chapman (2003), love is squarely at the center of healing which implies that hospitals must be more than a center of physical care of robotic care.
Challenges in implementing a healing environment
There are a number of challenges that hinder smooth implementation of the healing hospital paradigm especially in traditional hospital environment: financial elements; legal challenges; hierarchical staff organization system; and philosophical challenges.
1. Financial constraints – creating a healing environment entails making massive investments in technology, facilities, recruitment and training. Massive investment in facilities and technology is necessary in integrating the hospital physical environment with the healing process (Chapman, 2003). Much is also needed in terms of effecting change of mindset, skills and culture of health providers given that the hospital healing paradigm stresses on loving and compassionate care to patients and colleagues. Management find it difficult to undertake these tasks because of the need to save costs.
2. Legal challenges – the present hospital setting is prone to many legal challenges such as high rates of litigation and cost of insurance premium. Considering the healing hospital paradigm is a new concept that is yet to be fully embraced, there is the risk of more case proceedings (Chapman, 2003).
3. Hierarchical problems – Implementation of the healing hospital paradigm is challenged by the nature of the current staff organization system (Chapman, 2003). The health care staff is grouped in a hierarchical system which is different from the healing hospital paradigm model that regards every health staff as equally important to the patient’s well-being.
4. Philosophical challenges – while the contemporary cure model strives to address the patient’s physical needs through elimination of disease using cast-in-stone scientific methods and procedures, the healing model aims to meet the patient’s physical, emotional and spiritual needs (Chapman, 2003). This translates that specific procedures may be applied on subjective beliefs as opposed to proven procedures. This raises the challenge of implementing standards and the kind of values to be adopted by a hospital considering the diverse beliefs and value of the patients.
Healing Hospital Paradigm and the Bible
Healing hospital paradigm has biblical support. From the biblical point of view, healing is said to have occurred whenever damage or harm is completely dealt with. According to research, Caine and Kaufman (2001), more than 12 elements of faith may be instrumental in delivering healing benefits, which is a complete package of natural health boosters which complement the medicine administered to a patient (Hutchinson, 2011).
Scriptures of John, Peter 1 and the Book of Psalms have strong support for the healing hospital paradigm. Same to the scriptures, the model provides an immaterial power with the ability to heal those who believe in the higher power that is God. A Psalms 61: 1-8 explictly embodies the healing hospital paradigm. The Higher Power is capable of healing all diseases and other disorders as well as all emotional distresses.
References:
Chapman, E. (2003). Radical Loving Care: Building the Healing Hospital in America. Tennessee: Baptist Healing Hospital Trust.
Hutchinson, A. T. (2011). Whole Person Care: A New Paradigm for the 21st Century. New York: Springer.
