Esiste un diritto alla speranza?

Can hope be considered a patient's right? Why is it so importante to keep hope alive in people who suffer froma serious or incurable disease? Some experimental data demonstrate that hope can be a relevant factor in determining resilience and the quality of the therapeutic process. On the other hand, a lack of hope can lead to failure and despair. Phenomenology and existentialism stress that hope is an essential capacity and a pivotal need of every human being. If healthcare professionals are willing to listen to their patients and recognize their spiritual resources, they will succeed, if not in curing them from their desease, at least in caring for their existence. According to Viktor Frankl's Logotherapy and Existential Analysis, patients and their families can be supported in searching for a meaning to suffering, by finding and actualizing meaningful goals and purposes in their life. This seems to be a way of regenerating hope, in spite of every condition.