End-of-Life Toolkit for Faith Communities
Helping Faith Communities Address End-of-Life Issues

The Challenge

A recent Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life (ICEOL) survey of more than 900 clergy from across the country confirmed what anecdotal evidence suggested: Clergy want and need more information and resources on serious illness, end-of-life care and grief to better support their congregations. Although nearly two-thirds of respondents identified educational programs related to these topics as key to improving congregational care, less than 20% of congregations have such programs in place. Among the survey’s other findings, only 39% of clergy indicated they are “very comfortable” training or organizing lay leaders to provide support for meeting the spiritual needs of parishioners with serious illness.

National data indicate that patients and their families who look to their faith communities when facing advanced illness and grief often come up empty-handed. Meanwhile, pastors indicate they feel ill-equipped to address concerns, although congregants are seeking such support from their faith leaders. The data, along with an ever-increasing number of requests to ICEOL from faith communities in search of end-of-life care resources, suggest information currently available does not meet the needs of today’s faith leaders.

“We are building the capacity of faith communities to foster a renaissance in end-of-life caring.”
— Jeanne Twohig, M.P.A., Deputy Director, ICEOL

ICEOL’S Response

ICEOL is developing an easy-to-use “toolkit” of resources for clergy and church-lay leaders to help them better understand and find practical ways to address end-of-life care issues in their congregations. The toolkit, which will be available in hard back copy and electronic formats, takes a congregational perspective, beginning with a preamble that provides a theological framework for faith communities in addressing end-of-life care. Among topics covered are serious illness, caregiving, advance-care planning and grief. Each chapter highlights pastoral-care issues, identifies resources for parishioners and provides examples of how to build a ministry around that topic. Content is non-denominational and considers Christian and non-Christian religions.

Providing expertise for the toolkit’s overall vision, content and design is a multi-disciplinary advisory board of clergy, lay leaders and health-care professionals. As a way to ensure the toolkit complements the work of faith communities and hospices, ICEOL is collaborating with Project Compassion, an organization that supports people living with serious illness, and with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s Caring Connections program.

The Future

  • The need to create new knowledge in the emerging field of spirituality and end-of-life care is enormous and, therefore, ICEOL is committed to expanding its Local Scholars Grant Program by increasing the number of grants awarded annually.
  • ICEOL will sponsor symposia that bring together past and current grantees to share insights and engage in dialogue.
  • ICEOL will support investigators in disseminating their research findings across the field.