Multifaith perspectives on spiritual care at end of life
Religious and spiritual beliefs often play a significant role in how many individuals approach their own death and dying. Understanding and respecting these beliefs is crucial for providing compassionate and effective end-of-life care.
This panel event will bring together leaders, researchers and teachers from the traditions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity to explore how these religions guide individuals and their loved ones through the processes of death, dying, and grief. It also explores how faith finds a place in secular settings such as hospitals, hospices and care facilities and how care workers, medical teams and families can be better informed and equipped to support their patients and loved ones with spiritual care.
What are the diverse rituals, practices, and theological perspectives that shape the end-of-life experiences within these faith traditions? How can medical practitioners ensure that care is aligned with an individual’s spiritual beliefs?
Join us for a discussion on the intersection of spiritual and physical caretaking during death and dying.
About the speakers
Margaret Doherty is Director of The Centre for the Art of Dying Well, at St Mary’s University, Twickenham., London, whose mission is ‘to help people to live and die well and be supported in their grief. Originally an initiative of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, the Centre has been based at St Mary’s since 2018. Turning research into tangible action is one of the principal ways in which the Centre pursues its mission, alongside practical companionship; training and support for care givers; and engaging the public, shaping policy and changing the national conversation about death and dying. Research projects include the 2021 report with Demos on the role of the internet platforms for peer-to-peer grieving support. It also hosts an award-winning podcast with that tag line ‘making death and dying something we can all talk about’.
Dr Emma Harris is Director of Development and Alumni Relations at the Woolf Institute in Cambridge. The Institute has strong links to the University of Cambridge and combines teaching, scholarship and public engagement, focusing on Jews, Christians and Muslims, to encourage tolerance and foster understanding between people of all beliefs. Between 2018 and 2022, Emma managed the training programme and led on the development of the Woolf Institute publication, Diversity in End of Life Care: A Handbook on Caring for Jewish, Christian and Muslim Patients. This resource is used as a tool during training and for continued learning and development on the wards and in other healthcare spaces. Emma has also been involved with the interfaith teaching for ordinands at the Cambridge Theological Federation and has taught on aspects of Jewish practice and Jewish-Christian Relations in English literature.
Dr Mehrunisha Suleman is Associate Professor and Director of Medical Ethics and Law Education at the University of Oxford and is responsible for leading and delivering a range of teaching activities for undergraduate and graduate students. Mehrunisha is a medically trained bioethicist and public health researcher, whose research experience spans healthcare systems analysis to empirical ethics evaluation. Her research interests intersect global health research ethics and clinical ethics particularly where religious and cultural views and values of patients, clinicians and researchers are pertinent.She was recently a post-doctoral researcher at the Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge where she led a research project on the ethical analysis of the experiences of end of life care services in the UK from Muslim perspectives.
"'It comes to us all': Death and dying" series
This event is part of an ongoing series on Death and Dying taking place at the Intellectual Forum in October and November. Find out more about the series.
