Significance of Mental and Spiritual Support for Cancer Patients
In: Death, Dying, Culture: An Interdisciplinary InterrogationSearch for other papers by Suvi Saarelainen in
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A diagnosis of cancer usually arouses fear of death. It seems that patients are often left alone with their anxieties. This statement is supported by research on cancer patients conducted in Finland in 2008, which stated that cancer patients were not given the support they needed unless they were active in seeking out that support themselves. This article introduces groups of cancer patients with attention given to how they think about spiritual and mental support as well as about death and dying. Almost 80% of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. However, according to the Patient Information Law, the personnel of hospitals in Finland are not allowed to inform congregation personnel about their patients’ need for mental or spiritual support. The article answers to two specific questions: 1.What kind of a mental and spiritual support do people suffering from cancer need?; and 2. How do they experience the possibility of dying? It is important to find answers to these questions in order to evaluate the efficiency of the current support system and to assess possible difficulties arising from the formal situation facing patients. I will also provide information about religiosity in Finland and discuss the conflicts between the Freedom of Religion Act and the Patient Information Law. This research utilizes a narrative method with data consisting of 13 letters and 7 interviews. By using narrative holistic-content analysis and holistic analysis of form it was possible to bring out cancer patients’ voices while identifying their individual need for support and their thoughts about religion and spirituality.