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Volume 1, Issue 1
October 1999

Center for Spiritual
Life and Wholeness
Loma Linda
University

Welcome to our new campus chaplain

Terry Swenson, MDiv, is the new Loma Linda University campus chaplain. Terry and his wife, Marion, have four children--three girls: Jasmine, Mia, and Crystal; and one boy, Jared, who is their youngest. Chaplain Swenson envisions his role of campus chaplain as that of being a bridge between the different generations as well as being a bridge between the many diverse cultures on campus. He hopes to build this bridge through networking the spiritual community on campus. He wants the chaplain's office to be the center of the networking of the various schools on campus and the many different churches both on campus and in the surrounding communities. Chaplain Swenson believes that for many people, spirituality has become a separate compartmentalized aspect of their lives. As campus chaplain, he wants to help people develop the idea of wholeness which incorporates spirituality as the foundation for all aspects of their lives. Chaplain Swenson looks forward to working with students and helping them develop and grow spiritually. He wants the students to know that his door is always open for them, and he is here to help in any way he can, and he invites all students to come by his office so that he can introduce himself.

End-of-life Care: What Hurts? What Works?

The Center for Christian Bioethics and the Center for Spiritual Life and Wholeness joined together to provide a two-day conference on palliative care titled, "End-of-life Care: What Hurts? What Works?" The conference was held at Coleman Pavilion at Loma Linda University on Sunday, February 28, and Monday, March 1, 1999. The conference covered topics such as breaking bad news, the use of laughter in critical illness, multiple disciplinary approaches to palliative care, pain and suffering as portrayed in art and literature, the meaning of suffering, and symptom and pain control. The two-day conference was videotaped, and copies may be purchased. For more information about video or audio tapes of the conference, please contact Sigma Audio/ Video Associates, P.O. Box 51, Loma Linda, California 92354.

Palliative care grant awarded

The Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Administration Medical Center is one of 30 VA hospitals nationwide to be awarded a VA Faculty Leaders Project for Improved Care at the End of Life Grant. The grant is for creating and developing a teaching curriculum in the area of palliative care for internal medicine residents. The curriculum will include the role of spirituality in the lives of patients receiving palliative care. The medical community has become increasingly aware that spiritual issues and concerns are important to many patients. These concerns need to be addressed by not only palliative-care physicians, but all physicians. "All physicians who care for patients need to learn the skills of palliative care for dying patients. We don't feel this should be restricted to specialists," responds Steve Hardin, MD, assistant professor of medicine and clinical ethics at Loma Linda University. The program is currently being developed and includes a number of long-term care beds will be set aside for terminal patients who will be receiving palliative care. The curriculum will also incorporate how physicians interact with their patients on spiritual issues within the context of their medical care.