Geriatric Rehabilitation as Spiritual Care A Meditation on Aging, Shame, and Geriatric Rehabilitation at the End of Life

The tenet that the practice of geriatric rehabilitation includes elements of spiritual care is posited and developed. Once this is acknowledged, then those providing geriatric rehabilitation can better appreciate the importance of their practice among all of the professions providing end-of-life care. Providing end-of-life care reveals the depth of meaning of the practice of geriatric rehabilitation, both for the patient and for the therapist. The context for this appreciation focuses on the experience of shame in aging and dying. Spiritual care of the geriatric person, especially at the end of life, entails shame mitigation.