Dr. Michael Balboni and Dr. Tracy Balboni - The Role of Religion and Spirituality in End-of-Life Care

Kresge 201
Harvard School of Public Health
677 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02215

The presentation highlights data on the associations of medical utilization and spiritual care provided by the medical system and religious communities from the NIH/NCI-funded Coping with Cancer Study.  Patients whose spiritual needs were largely or completely supported by the medical team received more hospice care in comparison with those not supported.  In contrast, patients reporting high spiritual support from religious communities were less likely to receive hospice, more likely to receive aggressive end-of-life measures, and more likely to die in an ICU.  The presentation interprets the data within a theological framework and points to next steps of research engaging spiritual care and end-of-life outcomes.