Resource Mobilization for Palliative and Hospice Care of Buddhist Monks: A Case of Santibhavan Project of Palliative Care Residence for Monks, Thailand

Abstract

The Santibhavan Project of Palliative Care Residence for Monks was part of the wider context defined by the social movement for palliative and hospice care in Thailand. The project was distinctive in that, unlike other groups and organizations in the movement, it focused solely on providing palliative and hospice care to the terminally ill. Buddhist monks who comprise one of the most neglected group of patients. Another distinctive feature was its integration of the Vinaya or monastic rules into the design of the palliative and hospice care processes offered to the terminally ill Buddhist monks so that they received appropriate care while being free from a concern that they might not properly observe the Vinaya. The project mobilized religious, socio-organizational, cultural, human, and material resources to realize its goals in developing the project, designing palliative and hospice care processes, and sustaining its operation. The religious factor (such as the Buddhist belief in merit-making) and distinctive characteristics of the founder played important roles in the acquisition and mobilization of these resources.