Wednesday December 23, 2009
Meerkats at ZSL London Zoo receive an early Christmas gift from their keepers of home-made crackers filled with meal worms and locusts on December 17, 2009 in London, England.
What is Wordless Wednesday?
More Wordless Wednesday photos at About.com and the Wordless Wednesday Home Blog
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Monday December 21, 2009
It looks like there will be the 60 votes needed to pass health care reform in the United States Senate before Christmas. Good news! Although, there is plenty of debate about what the final bill will actually look like after all the back room bargaining. Spiritual care has been part of that discussion.
Lifelong Christian Scientist, George Reed, depends on prayer for his health and well-being. Reed says "Spiritual care is more than health care; it's also wellness or whole person care, providing for a peaceful and progressive life."
From Reed's article Spiritual care, healing should be part of reform:
Spiritual care has been covered by the insurance industry for almost 90 years. Today, spiritual care - religious nonmedical care - is covered by the Medicare and Medicaid programs, as well as a number of government health insurance plans.
Not sure what type of "spiritual care" is actually covered by Medicare and Medicaid programs I decided to do some research about this. Here's what I found:
- 'Although there is no direct payment by Medicare for the services of pastoral counselors, the services they provide to hospital inpatients are included in the hospital's allowable costs under the Medicare program. The costs are included in the administrative and general (A & G) cost center. As early as the mid-1970's, Medicare recognized pastoral care as having a beneficial and therapeutic effect on the medical condition of a patient, and, therefore, the costs a provider incurs to furnish such care to its patients are considered patient care related costs.'
Source: HIPAA and Pastoral Care
- Medicare Hospice Benefit: More than 90% of hospices in the United States are certified by Medicare. Medicare defines a set of hospice core services, which many hospices surpass through voluntary, community-based efforts.
- Physician services
- Nursing care
- Medical appliances and supplies
- Drugs for symptom management and pain relief
- Short-term inpatient and respite care
- Homemaker and home health aide services
- Counseling
- Social work service
- Spiritual care
- Volunteer participation
- Bereavement services
Source: NHPCO
- All US governmental, public, and private healthcare facilities and their staff fall under some form of regulatory requirement to provide opportunities for spiritual health assessment and care as a component of holistic healthcare. As often the case with regulations, these facilities face the predicament of funding un-reimbursable care. However, chaplains and nurses who provide most patient spiritual care are paid using funds the facility obtains from patients, private, and public sources. Furthermore, Veteran healthcare services, under the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), are provided with taxpayer funds from local, state, and federal governments.
Source: Journal of Religion and Health, Volume 48, Number 4 / December, 2009
More reading on this subject:
Regulations Impacting Spiritual Care in Health Care
Keep an Open Mind About Spiritual Care
How Will Health Care Reform Affect End-of-Life Care?
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Saturday December 19, 2009
A notice was posted at
BlogCarnival on Dec. 12 reporting their intermittently failing email problems have been resolved. BlogCarnival is the submission hub for all all blog carnivals across the Internet. Also, my personal ISP's attempt at an email upgrade this past week caused both my incoming and outgoing mail to have major delivery delays. Things have been a bit crazy.
Unfortunately, due to these email issues, only a handful of entries actually made their way through to our carnival host, Rosanna C.Rogacion. But, Rosanna persevered and posted the carnival just the same with the few rather than many submissions. (Update! Rosanna has since added additional attractions that I came her way late.)
At the Carnival of Healing #220, posted at Meandering Paths to Spirituality and Wellness you will learn how to control your emotions, how to mend a broken heart, and also learn about color breathing. This is the last edition of the calendar year since the carnival is scheduled to take a break next week for the holidays. A special thanks and holiday blessings to Rosanna for her 2009 send off edition!
Announcing Changes for 2010
I was going to announce this in January, but I guess now is just as good a time. I have made the decision to scale back the Carnival of Healing from weekly to monthly editions beginning in 2010. This decision did not come easily, I have given it considerable thought. But, after almost five years of overseeing and promoting the weekly carnivals every Saturday I am anxious to free up my weekends to focus my energies on other projects. No worries, I'm not pulling up the tent stakes altogether. The carnival show will go on, just less frequently.
2010 editions will be posted on the first Saturday of each month. Because there will only be twelve editions of the carnival next year it is my intention that the attractions showcased each month to be the cream of the crop. I plan to host the January edition, but currently there are eleven editions/months open. Bloggers, if you are interested in hosting during 2010, get your bids in. Check the carnival calendar for available hosting dates.
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Thursday December 17, 2009
Each week, we invite a different
intuitive to answer a question from a reader. If you'd like to submit a question for Christopher please
email him directly.
Free Advice from Angel Intuitive, Christopher James Dilts
Dear Christopher,
Are humans another form of Angels without the ability to tap their heavenly being?
Twan
Dear Twan,
The question at the heart of your question is, "What is an Angel?" So let's start there.
The word 'Angel' means Messenger. Angels are the Messengers of God. The messages they carry and transmit span a wide spectrum of human experience and include words, light, energy, vibration, color, emotion/feeling and thought. The messages are multi-dimensional and holographic (each message is connected to and contains every message and loving expression of God.)
Angles have never existed in human form, nor do humans become angels when they cross over. The angels' energetic frequencies are calibrated so that humans can sense, feel, hear, see and sometimes even smell them. In some of my workshops people report that their Angels have the pure scent of flowers: roses, lilacs, violets and so on. You can learn to sense your Angles with one of your five senses. With practice, one of your five senses will lead the others depending on which of your five senses is the most receptive.
Angels bridge our physical reality with their pure spiritual energy that embodies God's perfect love for us. They bridge heaven to earth and create openings - like doorways - to the divine within you.
There are many different kinds of Angels that embody many of aspects of God's love for us. Each Angel serves a different function in your life. For instance, in my practice as an Angel Intuitive and spiritual counselor, I often help people connect with their Messenger Angels and their Guardian Angels. Messenger Angels sometimes take on human form for short periods to give you a message or help you with something in your life. A Guardian Angel is a helping, guiding and personal protector Angel that is always looking over you -from before your birth and beyond the time you cross over.
All Angel Blessings to you,
Christopher James Dilts
Angel Intuitive
Disclaimer: Christopher Dilts shares insights derived from intuitive communications. Any advice he offers is not meant to override your personal health providers' recommendations or prescriptions, but is intended to offer a higher perspective on your question from the Angels
Meet Our In House Intuitives
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