The California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation’s Medical Facility (CMF) has launched a new palliative spiritual care training program aimed at improving services for incarcerated individuals.
The new two-week spiritual training program was recently provided to palliative care service workers and volunteers to assist CMF’s clinical and nursing staff caring for patients at the facility’s hospice, correctional treatment center and memory care units.
A dozen trainees recently completed the program, with CMF planning to provide an annual refresher course to all of its palliative care service workers, according to California Correctional Health Care Services CEO Joseph Garland.
“This training helps [palliative care service (PCS)] workers better assess the spiritual needs of the patients, understand the signs of spiritual distress, the role of the prison chaplain and the issues associated with completing one’s life,” Garland told Palliative Care News in an email. “PCS workers are an integral part of the care provided to palliative care patients.”
Any incarcerated individuals who are selected may participate in the spiritual palliative care training alongside its staff. The model is purposeful in developing an interdisciplinary care team approach — particularly with those in the palliative care unit, Garland stated.
CMF’s palliative and hospice services are designed to provide compassionate, quality care to incarcerated patients with chronic and terminal illnesses. Spiritual care is an important component of both palliative and end-of-life care, he said.
The training is provided in partnership with the California-based nonprofit Hospice of San Joaquin and the Humane Prison Hospice Project.
The focus on spiritual training was intentional to improve quality and comfort for incarcerated palliative care patients, according to Garland. CMF’s palliative care service workers help facilitate communication between patients and their families, assist with documentation forms and spend quality time at the bedside, he stated.
The need for spiritual care training
A main goal of the training is to ensure that everyone involved in the care of serious and terminally ill patients is aware of the spiritual care resources available to the patients, Garland said.
Incarcerated individuals often face greater spiritual, psychosocial, emotional and existential challenges as their illness progresses compared to other populations, he added.
“Incarceration is a life-changing experience, and spirituality helps individuals make sense of the things happening around them,” Garland said. “It becomes even more important for patients facing an existential crisis, especially at the end of their lives.”
Incarceration is a life-changing experience, and spirituality helps individuals make sense of the things happening around them. Palliative care service workers are an integral part of the care provided to palliative care patients
— Joseph Garland, CEO, California Correctional Health Care Services
Access to spiritual care is critical for seriously ill incarcerated populations, according to David Garlock, a national public speaker and former hospice worker. Garlock is a former incarcerated individual and currently serves as a criminal justice reform leader.
Without the ability to physically go out and seek support in their faith communities, having spiritual care services to incarcerated palliative patients is a vital part of their emotional well-being and quality of life, Garlock stated. These patients often do not receive the full scope of interdisciplinary support compared to other populations, he added.
Many of those providing this care to the patients are fellow incarcerated individuals, Garlock said. Training these individuals to provide spiritual support can go a long way toward quality improvement, he added.
“It’s not wanting someone to suffer alone,” Garlock told Palliative Care News. “When you take it to the spiritual component, that’s what a lot of these incarcerated men and women are lacking. They don’t have that connection, it’s definitely something that many prisons lack in terms of holding spiritual or faith-based groups. It’s not just about being taken care of physically, but also spiritually — that part of life matters.”
An important aspect of providing spiritual care is having a diverse understanding and representation of different beliefs and values, Garlock said. A deeper knowledge base of various religious and faith beliefs can help providers better communicate and address a patient’s needs.
Spiritual palliative care can provide benefits in helping patients who have experienced trauma, violence and abuse, which represent a large portion of incarcerated populations nationwide, Garlock said. Training staff on trauma-informed spiritual care is vital with this in mind, he stated.
Studies have shown that traumatic experiences can lead to emotional suffering along with increased pain and symptom burden in chronic and terminally ill patients.
Another key part of spiritual care education is ensuring that staff are trained to recognize the potential impact of their own beliefs, morals and biases, according to Garlock.
“Communication is always important, as is having a person go into this care with a humble spirit, willing to listen,” Garlock said. “This isn’t about judging somebody. This is about being there and providing support [with] the right mind frame that this is any other patient, not a prisoner. It’s holistic spiritual care to help a person who might be holding on to so much pain, trauma and hurt for so long.”
This is about being there and providing support [with] the right mind frame that this is any other patient, not a prisoner. It’s holistic spiritual care to help a person who might be holding on to so much pain, trauma and hurt for so long.
— David Garlock, national public speaker and criminal justice reform leader
