Spirituality in palliative care: opportunity or burden? (original) (raw)
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Spirituality and religiosity in the approach to patients under palliative care
Revista Bioética
The development of the care plan for patients under palliative care must be unique and comprehensive, seeking to meet, as far as possible, the patient’s needs. Within this plan, the spiritual and religious axis stands out. To analyze the importance of this type of approach, we carried out an integrative review study. The articles analyzed should answer the guiding question “what does the literature say about spirituality and religiosity in the approach to patients under palliative care?”. The sample comprised 15 articles that show the multidisciplinary nature of the theme and point out the benefits of combining the spiritual and religious axis with care plans. We observed, however, that some practices and religious aspects can negatively influence the individual and the professional team feels unprepared to address and develop this issue with its patients.
Spirituality and its Relevance in Assistance to Patients under Palliative Care According to Experts
Hospice and Palliative Medicine International Journal, 2017
Background: Palliative care and spirituality are still very little discussed, but when studied and applied they become capable of alleviating some of the dimensions of suffering of man. Objective: To evaluate the understanding of health professionals about the concept of assistance to patients under palliative care and spirituality, as well as the application of techniques to alleviate the spiritual suffering for these patients. Method: This study used questionnaires in 91 professionals that work in the palliative care area (doctors, nurses and psychologists, chaplains), with at least three years of experience, regardless of gender. Results: The study shows a divergence in the work of professionals of the multidisciplinary staff, as well as the difficulty in addressing issues of spirituality. Conclusion: The palliative care and spirituality provide relief to many suffering patients, it is important to have health professionals aligned in concepts and prepared to use it in clinical practice.
A Thematic Review of the Spirituality Literature within Palliative Care
Journal of Palliative Medicine, 2006
Research related to spirituality and health has developed from relative obscurity to a thriving field of study over the last 20 years both within palliative care and within health care in general. This paper provides a descriptive review of the literature related to spirituality and health, with a special focus on spirituality within palliative and end-of-life care. CINAHL and MEDLINE were searched under the keywords "spirituality" and "palliative." The review revealed five overarching themes in the general spirituality and health literature: (1) conceptual difficulties related to the term spirituality and proposed solutions; (2) the relationship between spirituality and religion; (3) the effects of spirituality on health; (4) the subjects enrolled in spirituality-related research; and (5) the provision of spiritual care. While the spirituality literature within palliative care shared these overarching characteristics of the broader spirituality and health literature, six specific thematic areas transpired: (1) general discussions of spirituality in palliative care; (2) the spiritual needs of palliative care patients; (3) the nature of hope in palliative care; (4) tools and therapies related to spirituality; (5) effects of religion in palliative care; and (6) spirituality and palliative care professionals. The literature as it relates to these themes is summarized in this review. Spirituality is emerging largely as a concept void of religion, an instrument to be utilized in improving or maintaining health and quality of life, and focussed predominantly on the "self" largely in the form of the patient. While representing an important beginning, the authors suggest that a more integral approach needs to be developed that elicits the experiential nature of spirituality that is shared by patients, family members, and health care professionals alike.
Spiritual Care in Palliative Care: A Physician’s Perspective
Religions
Palliative care is defined as ‘an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families who are facing problems associated with life-threatening illness. It prevents and relieves suffering through identification, assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, whether physical, psychosocial or spiritual’. As a palliative care physician, I aim to explore and meet the needs of my patients and their loved ones. As I am specifically trained as a specialist in assessing and treating ‘pain and other physical symptoms’, in psychological, social and spiritual issues, I am a generalist. Two approaches are described to assess spiritual needs in palliative care: The first is adjoining the analytic concept of the four dimensions of palliative care: using an instrument, measuring spiritual well-being or spiritual needs, and measuring the quality of life, with specific attention to spiritual issues. Second, a holistic approach is promoted, with openness to the patients’ n...
OPINION Spirituality and religiosity in supportive and palliative care
To provide an updated overview about the role of spirituality and religiosity in the way patients with lifethreatening illnesses cope, and the importance of providing a comprehensive spiritual assessment and spiritual care in an interdisciplinary team work setting, such as supportive and palliative care.
The Influence of Spirituality and Religiosity in Palliative Care
European Journal of Social Sciences
In recent years there has been talk of “Palliative care”, an interdisciplinary approach of care, which focuses on supporting and relieving patients and their family environment in progressive and life-threatening illnesses. Its aim is to provide optimal comfort and quality of life, maintain hope and family cohesion despite the possibility of death and generally support patients and their families in the stages of pain, illness and mourning. The theological approach of palliative care, with the opening of new horizons of view of pain and illness and their management with the help of faith, are challenges for the age of human omnipotence. The factors “spirituality” and “religiosity” have begun in recent years to be taken into account in the multitude of biological, psychological and spiritual factors that affect the body’s psychosomatic response to illness and treatment. In the present study, we are trying to explore the influence of religious faith in the management of physical, psyc...
Spirituality in palliative care: a public health issue?
Revista Bioetica, 2020
Recognized by the World Health Organization as essential for good practices in palliative treatments, “spiritual care” is a recent term in the context of Brazilian healthcare, and should be more well-defined. To fill this gap, this study presents an overview of the updating of spiritual care in Brazil, the United States and Europe, provides brief guidance on how to identify spiritual needs, and outlines four useful tools for this type of care. After the contextualization follows an interdisciplinary and introductory reflection based on bioethics and public theology, questioning whether this care would be a public health issue. The text concludes by presenting some recommendations that may support public policies aimed at implementing spiritual support in palliative care in Brazil.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021
Spirituality is the most unknown aspect of palliative care despite being the need that is most altered in the last moments of life. Objective. To identify on the one hand the spiritual needs of patients who are at the end of life and on the other hand, the way in which nursing professionals can work to provide effective accompaniment in this process. Method. A qualitative study was conducted which applied different data collection techniques. This was done to describe the phenomenon from a holistic perspective in relation to experts’ perceptions of the competencies required by health professionals and palliative patients’ spiritual needs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted within both populations. In order to analyze the qualitative data collected through interviews, discourse was analyzed according to the Taylor–Bodgan model and processed using Atlas.ti software. Results. Three well-differentiated lines of argument are extracted from the discourse in each of the groups, on t...