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Spirituality in Patient-Centered Practice

the Ninth Annual Foglio Conference on Spirituality and Medicine

Thursday, September 29, 2005
Kellogg Center, Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan

Sponsored by the Michigan State University Department of Family Practice
& Center for Ethics and Humanities

Keynote Speaker: Eric Cassell, M.D.

“Is Medicine Fundamentally a Spiritual Profession?”
Eric Cassell, M.D. Clinical Professor of Public Health at Weil Medical College of Cornell University

Dr. Eric Cassell has been a practicing internist for over forty years. He retired from his busy private practice in 1998 and presently sees patients in consultation. He is an attending physician at The New York Presbyterian Hospital, and a Clinical Professor of Public Health at Weil Medical College of Cornell University. He also teaches Pain Fellows at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Cassell is a frequent guest lecturer and teacher throughout the world speaking about medical education, the care of sick patients, the dying patient, and especially suffering. His publications about moral problems in medicine, medical practice, the care of chronically ill and dying, and the nature of suffering include: The Healer’s Art; The Place of Humanities in Medicine; Changing Values in Medicine; Talking with Patients (2 Vol.) The Nature of Suffering; and Doctoring: The Nature of Primary Care Medicine.

In writing about the spiritual dimension of patient-centered care, Eric Cassell, M.D., says “Everyone has a transcendent dimension, a life of the spirit. . . The quality of being greater and more lasting than an individual life gives this aspect of the person its timeless dimension. The profession of medicine appears to ignore the human spirit. When I see patients in nursing homes who have become only bodies, I wonder whether it is not their transcendent dimension that they have lost.”
“Transcendence is probably the most powerful way in which one is restored to wholeness after an injury to person­hood. When experienced, transcendence locates the person in a far larger landscape. The sufferer is not isolated by pain but is brought closer to a transpersonal source of meaning and to the human community that shares those meanings. Such an experience need not involve religion in any formal sense; however, in its transpersonal dimension, it is deeply spiritual.”

For more on Dr. Cassell, see www.ericcassell.com.

About the Conference

The Foglio Conference on Spirituality and Medicine was established in honor of Father John P. Foglio, D.Min., a faculty member in the Department of Family Practice since 1986. The Rev. Dr. Foglio has woven into his career with the MSU Department of Family Practice a commitment to social justice, a compassionate and intense concern for the personal and spiritual well-being of students and colleagues, and a scholarly background in both theology and communication sciences. In 1993 he developed “Spirituality and Medicine,” a required Humanities-Block Course for Year II medical students in the MSU College of Human Medicine. This conference institutionalizes the educational initiatives begun by Father Foglio.

About the Workshop Presenters

Concurrent Workshops I (10:45 a.m.)

A) The Dream Workshop,
Mike Stratton, ACSW, Psychotherapist, private practice, East Lansing

This workshop will offer a dynamic process to form a better understanding and deeper appreciation of dreams. A blend of techniques and models will assist the participant in discovering the deepest wisdom addressing specific developmental issues.

B) The Light in the Mirror
Rabbi Michael Zimmerman, Congregation Kehillat Israel, Lansing

Using simple techniques from the Jewish mystical and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, this workshop will introduce a model for healing of the whole person, and bring this model to life through direct experience of contemplative exercises, physical movement, visualization, and work with a partner.

Concurrent Workshops II (2:00 p.m.)

D) The Exploration of Spiritual Issues from the Perspective of the Inter-Disciplinary Medical Oncology Team
MaryAnn Bull-Ehinger, ACSW, BCD, & chaplain John Burows, Ingham Regional Medical Center; Heather Spotts, ACSW, Breslin Cancer Center

The interplay of spirituality and ethics will be explored from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Varying health-care professional roles will be identified and contrasted as they address the spiritual beliefs and needs of the oncology patient.The presenters will discuss how health care providers can utilize their own spiritual base of strength.

E) Listening with the Intention of Finding the Hidden Wholeness Abiding Within
David Grimshaw, D.O., Center for Integrative Medicine, Okemos, & Celia Guro, Ph.D., MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine

We will explore the core issues of trust, shared responsibility, assertion of needs, communication, and shared visioning with decision making that make up the dance of an holistic therapeutic relationship. We will draw examples from our 23-year multiple-role relationship.

Concurrent Workshops III (3:45 p.m.)

F) Stress, Disease, and the Human Spirit
Mary Elaine Kiener, R.N., Ph.D., Transformative Health Coach & Holistic Nurse Consultant

This workshop will provide an overview of the body-mind-spirit connections between stress and disease. Participants will be introduced to holistic stress management resources and experience several techniques that are beneficial in managing and transforming stress.

G) Mindfulness in Medicine
Kim Aikens, M.D., Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Consultant, Petosky, Michigan

The workshop will review recent literature on the effects of spirituality on health, followed by a review of research specific to the practice of mindfulness in medicine. It will introduce the Jon Kabat-Zinn program in mindfulness-based stress reduction. Participants will experience a short eating meditation, followed by a brief guided breathing meditation.

H) Listening to the Patient’s Story
David Blauw, M.S., M.Div., The Stories Workshop

We optimize patient-centered, whole-person care by taking life histories as seriously as their health histories. Our patients have stories to tell. “The Stories Workshop” helps you learn how to encourage patients to tell them.

For information about the 2006 conference:

For information, contact:

Kay Backus
Dept. of Family Practice
B106 Clinical Center, MSU
East Lansing, MI 48824-1313

Phone: (517) 353-3544, ext. 454
E-Mail: Backus@msu.edu
Fax: (517) 355-7700