AIDS: responding to the crisis. Pastoral care: helping patients on an inward journey. NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1986. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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AIDS: responding to the crisis. Pastoral care: helping patients on an inward journey.

Health Prog. 1986 May;67(4):41-7. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE AHA/86224258
Tibesar LJ

Abstract: AIDS is unique in that it is terminal, transmissible, and surrounded by stigma. AIDS patients are often ostracized by those close to them and frequently they are alienated from religion. The pastoral care giver must provide a special ministry to AIDS patients, a ministry in which he or she accompanies the patient on a journey inward. This journey involves a broad range of feelings related to such concerns as social alienation, emotional isolation, and preparation for death. Its final destination, however, lies in the ultimate issues such as self-identity, the meaning of life, and individual destiny. To help the patient confront these issues, the pastoral care giver may first have to break through negative images held by many alienated persons with AIDS. These include the image of God as judge; the image of the Catholic minister as a celibate upholder of a rigid sexual code; and the perception that spirituality is the special preserve of religious persons.
Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*PSYCHOLOGY/TRANSMISSION Attitude to Death *Catholicism *Chaplaincy Service, Hospital Homosexuality *Hospital Departments Human Male *Pastoral Care JOURNAL ARTICLE

KWDacquiredimmunodeficiencysyndrome/KWDpsychology/transmissionattitudetodeathKWDcatholicismKWDchaplaincyservice,hospitalhomosexualityKWDhospitaldepartmentshumanmaleKWDpastoralcarejournalarticle
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Copyright © 1986 - National Library of Medicine. Reproduced under license with the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.

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