A Simple Way to Practice Purpose-Driven Healthcare
Mary Kaufmann
Board Certified Healthcare Chaplain, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at Healthy Rise Nutrition LLC, Founder of Renewed Practitioner, spiritual care training for Registered Dietitians and Healthcare Professionals
There is a growing drive, as reflected in recent healthcare literature, to consider wellness a matter that involves more than just the physical health of the body, stopping inflammation and metabolic disease, and promoting more than just healthy functioning alone. The movement within healthcare is to engage more deeply with the patient or client in a way that allows them to trust the provider and experience greater healing from that interaction and relationship as well as from medications and healthy lifestyle practices. In this mindset, healthcare professionals, in addition to being well-informed on the science and evidence for the care they provide, need to become agents that promote transformation. As practitioners and patients alike, people are brought to life in human interactions where they feel they matter. Purpose-driven healthcare attempts to invite conversations that tap into a person’s values, what give them meaning, purpose, and motivation to seek a well-lived life (and health).
??????????? Even when providers feel limited in their availability for a substantial conversation with a client due to lack of time, certain elements of good care can go a long way to promoting depth and breadth to the practice of lifestyle medicine. By its very nature, lifestyle medicine seeks to prevent disease and promote maximum wellness by considering the needs of the body, mind, and soul. LM seeks to be health-promoting, strength-based, and have a wellness focus. When providers keep this hope and emphasis in mind while caring for the person, they are more likely to address the person with better eye contact, compassion, and listening.
??????????? Respectful conversations invite patients to disclose more about what gives their lives meaning, purpose, and connection to something greater than themselves. Sooner or later, life, for all of us, brings us to this understanding of our limits.
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One simple question that all providers can learn to incorporate into their patient interactions is: “What do I need to know about you as a person to provide you with good care?” ?Spiritual care within our respective healthcare disciples can start simply, humanly, by keeping us aware of what drew us to our vocation. Purpose-driven healthcare can bring patients health, wellness, and greater flourishing.
Can you ask this question to the next patient you care for and share below your experiences?
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