Pediatric physician Jay Milstein wrote in a commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that, in the face of catastrophic medical events, forging a spiritual connection among patients and their significant others can restore a sense of control, meaning and the ability to cope, "allowing patients and families to shift from a state of hopelessness to wholeness." Milstein contends that in order to provide total patient care, both curing measures addressing the organic aspects of disease and healing measures addressing the human experience of illness are essential.