Christian Faith: Help or Hindrance for Chronically IllPatients in their Experience of Suffering?

Hope, Marilyn A. (2010) Christian Faith: Help or Hindrance for Chronically IllPatients in their Experience of Suffering? Master of Arts (major thesis) thesis, UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

This thesis will address some key questions of and approaches to spirituality and health care in the Australian context from the perspective of chaplaincy. It will explore the specific Christian religious experience of ten patients who suffer chronic, life-threatening illness, and then relate their experience to some writings of allied health practitioners. These strains of thought will be explored for congruencies and incongruence in their materials and their relevance to the patients' experience. The hypothesis for the research was that patients' belief in the human sufferings of Jesus and their Christian relationship with him would have some impact on their experience of illness. It is also hypothesised that the presence and support of church as expressed in the chaplain would have some significance for their experience of suffering. Finally the findings will be related to the current and furure practice of chplaincy in the healthcare setting and some reflections will be made in regard to current proctice and recommendations made for both church and healthcare organisations for future directions.

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