Close Encounters of the First Kind: An Interdisciplinary Ethics of Care Approach Mitigates Moral Injury and Family Division in the Midst of Covid-19

TY - JOUR

T1 - Close Encounters of the First Kind

T2 - An Interdisciplinary Ethics of Care Approach Mitigates Moral Injury and Family Division in the Midst of Covid-19

AU - Berlin, Ana

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine

PY - 2022/9

Y1 - 2022/9

N2 - In this compelling personal narrative describing a case from the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, a palliative care physician harnesses the creative powers and strengths of the interdisciplinary team to provide compassionate care to a critically ill patient and his family. The author describes the process of identifying a surrogate decision maker from among the patient's many adult children—several of whom were estranged from him and each other—and facilitating weighty decisions about his end-of-life care. Over the course of this journey, the author grapples with her inner biases and struggles with the emotional trauma associated with bearing witness to extraordinary suffering and social isolation imposed by COVID-19. Not only does the ethics of care approach embodied here lead to the creation of enduring vibrant works of art for this patient and others, but it also affirms a guiding principle of palliative care in which interdisciplinary collaboration is marshalled in the service of cultivating relationships, upholding responsibilities, and intensifying empathy among persons tied together by a common narrative.

AB - In this compelling personal narrative describing a case from the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, a palliative care physician harnesses the creative powers and strengths of the interdisciplinary team to provide compassionate care to a critically ill patient and his family. The author describes the process of identifying a surrogate decision maker from among the patient's many adult children—several of whom were estranged from him and each other—and facilitating weighty decisions about his end-of-life care. Over the course of this journey, the author grapples with her inner biases and struggles with the emotional trauma associated with bearing witness to extraordinary suffering and social isolation imposed by COVID-19. Not only does the ethics of care approach embodied here lead to the creation of enduring vibrant works of art for this patient and others, but it also affirms a guiding principle of palliative care in which interdisciplinary collaboration is marshalled in the service of cultivating relationships, upholding responsibilities, and intensifying empathy among persons tied together by a common narrative.

KW - COVID-19

KW - Palliative care

KW - art therapy

KW - care ethics

KW - creative arts

KW - end-of-life

KW - hospice

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108384840&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85108384840&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.03.028

DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.03.028

M3 - Article

C2 - 34022390

SN - 0885-3924

VL - 64

SP - e159-e164

JO - Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

JF - Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

IS - 3

ER -