Introduction
The human body, like those of other living things is prone to instabilities in biological functionality and structural well being. These often lead to disruptions of body functions in form of sicknesses or injuries. The restoration of such states to normal body condition is what defines healing. A healing hospital can thus be defined as an institution where the process of restoration to well being of a body is undertaken. This paper seeks to discuss aspects of a healing hospital. The paper will look into the components of a healing hospital as well as the challenges that are normally involved in the establishment of a healing hospital. The paper will also discuss a religious basis of healing hospitals.
Components of a healing hospital and their relationship to spirituality
The basis of healing hospitals is the provision of health care to ensure wellness of individual patients. The mission and vision statements, goals and values of such institutions support their commitment to the objective of healing. The vision and mission of ‘All Nations’ Healing Hospital’ for instance revolves around the provision of safe and qualitative health care to clients. The values of the institution also revolves around its objectives with provisions such as respect for patients and clients, and ensuring “accessibility of services, compassion and understanding and being responsive to the deeds of others” (Fort, n.d., p. 1).
The drivers of healing hospitals such as their goals, objectives and missions thus translates to the components of such institutions which must be structured to facilitate the attainment of such elements as goals and missions. Features of a healing hospital can be identified into three major components. The first significant component of a healing hospital is “a healing physical environment” (Mercy, 2011). The healing physical environment refers to the immediate neighborhood that patients as well as their care takers encounter in the hospital. This includes the hospital facilities and structures together with the human resource that is available in the hospital. The main concern of the physical environment is to ensure the patients and even their relatives and friends who might visit them in the facilities are offered a favorable atmosphere that can help them out of stress that is caused by the sickness. The physical component thus relates to how the institution associates with patients and other immediate parties to give psychological support for the healing process. This is particularly achieved by “creating a loving, compassionate, and aesthetically pleasing environment” (Mercy, 2011, p. 1) that can help the affected parties to handle the illness situation.
Another component of a healing hospital is the “integration of work design and technology” (Mercy, 2011, p. 1). Once the facility has offered a conciliatory environment to the patient, the next major step is to undertake an assurance to the patient that the healing process will be successful under sufficient “privacy and security for patients” (Mercy, 2011, p. 1). Incorporation of technology is thus brought into focus to facilitate processes for the recovery. The third component of a healing hospital is the “culture of radical loving care” (Mercy, 2011, p. 1). Provision of love that is coupled with compassion to the patient is identified to be a critical and holistic feature of healing hospitals (Mercy, 2011).
Eberst Laurie (n.d.) explained that the physical environment needs to be quiet so as to allow the patients to have sufficient rest as they strive to heal. The environment should thus be free from any form of noise and disturbance. The technological incorporations also help it establishing efficiency besides gaining the confidence of patients (Eberst, n.d.).
There is an established claim that that the entire healing process of an individual depends to some extent on the spirituality of the individual as well as that of those around the patient. Spirituality, for instance, helps the hospitals through their care personnel to identify spiritual beliefs of a patient that can contribute to faster healing. These are then incorporated in the immediate hospital environment of the patient (Graves, Shue & Arnold, 2002). Spirituality is also identified to induce a relaxation effect on individuals. This is then transmitted into body processes for a faster healing process. The relaxation that spirituality induces is claimed to counter stress in patients thus correcting body processes to normal capacity from inefficiencies induced by stress. Spirituality thus supplements the healing process and should be incorporated in the three components of healing hospitals (Benson & Puchalski, 2007).
The integration of spirituality in the healing hospitals is also essential to the influence of a person’s faith to facilitate the healing process. Religious individuals have strong faith in biblical teaching which provides them with comfort and strength. Developing a patient’s spirituality will thus develop their faith into relaxation that they are healed. The healing belief by Christians that is for example expressed in the Holy Bible’s book of John chapter five when Jesus healed a man and told him that “see, you are well again”, (John 14) is critical to establishing a hope for healing. Individuals’ faith will thus enhance their healing process.
Challenges in creating a healing environment
Developing a healing hospital is not just about building a structure and having people to take care of patients. On the contrary, there are a lot of challenges and barriers that must be factored in establishing a healing hospital. One of the challenges of such establishment is the required knowledge and skills that are necessary for the operation and success of such a hospital. The medical background is one of the necessities that must be ensured in such facilities. Professionals with skills such as analysts who will be able to monitor processes in the hospital including analysis into patients’ responsiveness to healing are also a necessity. The basic components of a healing hospital that covers elements such as “wisdom, kindness, compassion and love” (Geffen, 2004, p. 1) also need to be provided for in the system. The major challenge that faces creation of a healing facility is the efficient provision of all these elements together with balancing them to avoid overlooking others. Other challenges and barriers will then be realized on the basis of the need to ensure the provision of these elements. One of the resultant challenges or barrier to creating healing hospitals will therefore be the finance for the development of structures and provision of personnel for the facilities. Finding personnel who are committed to their service and to the success of the hospital can also be a challenge (Geffen, 2004).
Conclusion
A healing environment must thus consist of components such as physical environment, work design and technology as well as a loving care and spiritual aspects. Provisions for these components are however not smooth.
References
Benson, H & Puchalski, C. (2007). Spirituality and healing in medicine. Web.
Eberst, L. (n.d.). Healing hospital. Web.
Fort. (n.d.). A holistic, integrated approach to health care delivery. Web.
Geffen, J. (2004). Creating optimal healing environments for patients with cancer and their families: insights, challenges, and lessons learned from a decade of experience. Web.
Graves, D., Shue, C & Arnold, L. (2002). The role of spirituality in patient care: incorporating spirituality training into medical school curriculum. Web.
John, J. (2011). The holy bible. New York, NY: NIV.
Mercy, H. (2011). Your guide to service excellence. Web.