Poll: Spiritual Concerns Will Matter Most At End

Although it is one of the most profoundly significant parts of our lives and is something we certainly think about, the way we will die is a subject we seldom broach seriously in any detail with family and friends.

Nor is it an eventuality we tend to plan for. Only 28 percent of us set down our wishes for treatment of a terminal illness in writing.

We do harbor fears about our final days, worrying that we will be helpless and out of touch, a burden to our families or friends, riven by horrid pain. Most of us would prefer to die at home, surrounded by loved ones and attended by caring doctors and clergy, all of whom would provide spiritual and emotional comfort, reassuring us that our lives have had value and allowing us to talk about our hopes and anxieties about death and an afterlife.

Yet most of us die in hospitals, occasionally alone, often in the most impersonal of settings and sometimes while undergoing aggressive treatment that may render us unconscious or less than alert. And a majority of us don’t expect to receive much spiritual support.

These conclusions are drawn from a new national survey, “Spiritual Beliefs and the Dying Process,” in which 1,200 adults of all ages were interviewed about the kind of care they hoped to receive at the end of their lives. It was conducted by the George H. Gallup International Institute and commissioned by the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Fetzer Institute.

“The overarching message that emerges from this study is that the American people want to reclaim and reassert the spiritual dimension in dying,” George H. Gallup Jr., head of the Gallup organization, writes in the preface of a 63-page report. “When we asked people to talk about four areas of concerns - the practical, the emotional, the medical and the spiritual - the spiritual concerns came out far ahead in importance,” Gallup said.

“The findings certainly suggest the need for the extension of the role of the doctor,” Gallup said.

“Seven in 10 respondents said it’s important for the doctor to be spiritually attuned. That’s not insignificant. We also found in an earlier study that only 5 percent of doctors pray with their patients, although 50 percent of patients want them to.”

Is this asking too much of physicians?

“Doctors are not as a group non-religious or irreligious,” he said. “They could be much more aware of the spiritual connection in treating their patients. When I was a hospital patient recently, my doctor prayed with me. It was very comforting.”

Another contradiction between “what people want and what the realities are today,” Gallup writes, is “the strong desire of most people to die at home,” which, he notes, is no surprise.

“What is surprising,” he declares, “is that this ‘old news’ has been largely ignored by institutions such as hospitals and health-care organizations. The strong support for the hospice movement (which provides care in the home or in a supportive, homelike setting) is an accurate reflection of people’s preferences.”

Referring to the finding that only 36 percent thought a member of the clergy could be comforting “in many ways,” Gallup believes the survey is “a wake-up call for the clergy” and for churches, seminaries and other religious institutions.

“I think one reason for that number is the rampant privatism and individualism of our time,” Gallup said. “There are masses of data which show that religion is good for you.

“People who have religious faith live longer, have happier, more focused lives and better health habits than people without religious faith. And on and on.

“Today, however, most people think it doesn’t matter what church you go to. Yet seven in 10 think a clergyperson could help, which is hopeful, although relatives and friends would always be thought to be first in providing comfort.”