Conversations on Cancer, Exploring Religious Literacy and Spirituality in Cancer Care

We spend a lot of time at the FDA working on meeting unmet needs with clinical trials for rare, serious conditions, and life-threatening conditions.  However, all cancer patients – indeed, arguably all patients – also have a need for spiritual care, and research shows that this need is often largely unmet, as well. This edition of the Conversations on Cancer public panel discussion series will start with a brief exploration of the difference between religion and spirituality.  We’ll focus both on patients’ experience with their spirituality during cancer care, and address how the religious literacy and the spirituality of their providers may affect this care.  Of particular interest is how the provision of good spiritual care rests on religious literacy and how increasing religious literacy and spiritual care may increase rapport and foster good communication between providers and patients – especially underserved patients.  Finally, the discussion will touch on how providing better spiritual care benefits not only the patient, but also the burnout-prone provider in today’s healthcare arena.  Resources for patients and for providers will be provided.