Addressing "total pain" is a concept commonly practiced in palliative care. Spiritual healing in a Navy Veteran led to a significant improvement in pain allowing a voluntary taper of opioid medication. The Veteran was able to reconcile his faith in God and participated in several spiritual practices daily. The palliative care pharmacist assisted the team in developing an opioid taper process per Veteran's request as he had a strong conviction that he was spiritually healed. A reduction in opioid morphine equivalent daily doses (MEDD) were 87.5% without any symptoms from the clinical opioid withdrawal scale (COWS). The Veteran died peacefully during an opioid taper in hospice care.
Keywords: Veterans; analgesics; hospice care; opioid; pain; palliative care; spiritual therapies.