Mesothelioma and Asbestos

Hospital chaplains are members of the clergy who visit patients as well as their families in the intensive care unit (ICU) as well as other hospital units. Chaplains anoint the sick, provide comfort in the face of without money news, run family meetings, as well as attend health examination rounds. Physicians possess noticed that patient as well as family satisfaction increase when chaplains are around.

The demand for chaplains has gone up in recent years. The number of requests for chaplains has increased 23 percent over the final five years at Brigham as well as Women’s Hospital. Requests possess increased 30 percent for Massachusetts Common Hospital since 2006. The pastoral care program at Beth Israel Deaconess Health examination Center has increased its number of chaplain visits ten-fold since final year.

There are several explanations for the increased demand for hospital chaplains. Hospitals possess been treating sicker patients—both religious as well as nonreligious patients as well as families—who possess questions about aggressive treatment as well as death. The hospitals are as well as treating a greater number of Latino patients, many of whom are deeply religious. Additionally, hospitals are utilizing chaplains from a variety of faiths for pastoral visits—ministers, priests, rabbis as well as imams—and many hospitals possess chaplains assigned to specific units. Chaplains may take a nondenominational role, ministering to patients of dissimilar faiths.

Some chaplains minister to trauma patients, others to terminally sick patients. At Brigham as well as Women’s Hospital, renowned thoracic surgeon Dr. David Sugarbaker hired a chaplain devoted only to his mesothelioma patients. Mesothelioma is a rare but humorless form of cancer that is caused by asbestos exposure. Dr. Sugarbaker said that patients who received normal pastoral visits got through surgery more smoothly as well as often recovered more quickly.

For the filled story, go to The Boston Globe.