Christian Ministry to the Dying
Diocesan Press Service. May 8, 1963 [X-6]
Dying should not be a long defeat of living but an achievement in itself, says Dr. Cicely Saunders, Anglican now visiting the United States. She describes the achievement as the acceptance of God's will.
Dr. Saunders, a nurse, social worker and physician, is now doing research under a grant from an English medical school on the care of the dying. She has been working in a small Roman Catholic hospital in London which specializes in terminally ill patients with problems. These problems are usually extreme pain and related factors, making the patients impossible to keep at home.
One of the goals of her work has been to learn to establish for the patients a balance between pain and comfort. She said that pain and fear are the strongest antagonists to pain relieving drugs, and that it is possible to match the drugs to the patient and his pain so that he is not only relieved but is also alert and still "himself. "
Patients are welcomed into this healing community where the facts of death and the individuality of each person are accepted. Dr. Saunders describes much of her work as skilled "tender loving care."
When the patient is relieved of his physical distress, he is free to come to grips with his life. The work of the chaplain and just plain good personal relationships are very important in this work. She said that 60 percent of her 900 plus patients have been between the ages of 40 and 70 and the most frequent cause of the illness is cancer.
In the United States, Dr. Saunders has observed and lectured to doctors and those in related fields. She has visited hospitals and schools in New York and Boston. Her tour has been supported by grants from St. Thomas' hospital in London and the Ella Lyman Cabot Trust of Boston.
Before long, Dr. Saunders hopes to see St. Christopher's hospice opened in southeast London to care for the terminally ill, under her supervision. Grants have been made for the purchase of land and for beginning construction. There she hopes to continue her research and work in what she calls the Christian ministry to the dying.