Compassionate and Mindful End-of-Life Care: A Relational-Contemplative Approach for Clinicians

Abstract

Being with those who are dying is an integral part of clinical practice, yet many clinicians feel unprepared to support dying people and their caregivers as they encounter mortality and the final phase of human development. Similar to other aspects of medicine, however, the development of the necessary mental qualities and practical skills that allow clinicians to effectively accompany patients and their families through the experience of a catastrophic illness or the dying process requires specialized training. Such training involves the cultivation of a steady, compassionate, and present-centered awareness that positions clinicians as strong but quiet advocates for patients who are suffering and dying. Ideally, such training also affords clinicians a means to be enriched and not depleted by the care of others, especially those who are at the end of their lives. Since 1994, the Professional Training Program in Compassionate End-of-Life Care (CEOLC) has been pursuing these aims. Grounded in a relational and mindful perspective, the CEOLC program trains health care professionals in the psychosocial, spiritual, and ethical aspects of care of the dying. A main focus of the program is the cultivation of mindful awareness, emotional balance, equanimity, and compassion around issues of death and dying. These mental qualities and the practices that develop them assist clinicians in learning how to not only provide more mindful and compassionate endof-life care, but also effective self-care that can reduce burnout, secondary trauma, and moral distress. This presentation describes the CEOLC program, its key concepts, and the practices that make the program a unique form of clinical training that is worthy of further scientific investigation and practical dissemination.