Spirituality and spiritual changes in people living with dying (original) (raw)
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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...
Receiving Spiritual Care: Experiences of Dying and Grieving Individuals
OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 2017
The study examines the perceptions of interfaith spiritual care, received through a volunteer hospice organization, by 10 individuals facing death and dying. Qualitative methodology based on the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was used to collect and analyze the data. Four superordinate themes reflected meanings ascribed to spirituality and spiritual care in facing end of life: Vital Role of Spirituality in the End-of-Life Care, Definitions and Parameters of Spirituality and Interfaith Spiritual Care, Distinct Aspects of Interfaith Spiritual Care, and Unmet Spiritual Needs. The results expand an understanding of the role of spirituality and spiritual care as part of the hospice and palliative care through attention to individual perceptions and experiences, as well as to ways to expand attention to spirituality within the hospice care.
Palliative and Supportive Care, 2021
Objective Considering the risk of spiritual distress among terminally ill patients, experts long agree that spiritual care has to be an integral component of palliative care. Despite this consensus, the role of spirituality among family caregivers remains largely unexplored. We aimed to describe how spirituality manifests in the lived experience of family caregivers (FCs) in a palliative care context. Method As part of a secondary analysis, data derived from two qualitative primary studies on FCs’ burdens and needs in the context of caring for a patient with a diagnosis of incurable cancer. Previously transcribed interviews were examined by means of a thematic analysis, transcending the focus of the primary studies to examine how spirituality arises and/or persists in the life of FCs from the time of diagnosis of incurable cancer up until bereavement. Results Twenty-nine narratives were explored and all included spirituality as a relevant theme. Analysis revealed four aspects associ...
An Exploratory Study of Spiritual Care at the End of Life
The Annals of Family Medicine, 2008
PURPOSE Although spiritual care is a core element of palliative care, it remains unclear how this care is perceived and delivered at the end of life. We explored how clinicians and other health care workers understand and view spiritual care provided to dying patients and their family members.
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Context: Spiritual care refers to practices and rituals addressing spiritual/religious concerns. It supports coping with loss and finding hope, meaning, and peace. Although integral to palliative care, its implementation is challenging. Objective: To understand an Australian cohort of patients' and caregivers' perspectives about experiencing and optimizing spiritual care in the context of advanced illness. Methods: Patients and caregivers of patients with ≤12 month prognosis were recruited from a broader spiritual study via criterion sampling and agreed to opt-in interviews. Participants from an Australian, metropolitan health service received a spiritual care definition and were interviewed. Transcripts were analysed using qualitative description. Results: Thirty patients (17 male; mean 70-years) and 10 caregivers (6 male; mean 58.9years) participated. Twenty-seven identified as Christian and 10 had no religion. Participants described multifaceted and contested beliefs about spirituality. Many queried the tangibility of spirituality but all valued respectful staff who affirmed personhood, that is, each individual's worth, especially when care exceeded expectations. They also resonated with positive organizational and environmental tones that improved holistic wellbeing. Participants stressed the importance of the hospital's welcoming context and skilled care, which comforted and reassured. Conclusion: While many patients and caregivers did not resonate with the term, "spiritual care", all described how the hospital's hospitality could affirm their values and strengthen coping. The phrase "spiritual care and hospitality" may optimally articulate and guide care in similar, pluralist inpatient palliative care contexts, recognising that such care encompasses an interplay of generalist and specialist pastoral care staff, and organizational and environmental qualities.
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 assessment in palliative care: multicentre study
BMJ Open, 2024
Objectives This study aims to provide an in-depth exploration of everyday spiritual concerns of patients with advanced cancer seeking palliative care in Bangladesh, and assess their spiritual well-being (SWB). Methods This study was conducted among 163 patients with advanced cancer from three tertiary care hospitals in Bangladesh. It was divided into two parts: a quantitative segment that assessed the SWB of the participants using the EORTC QLQ SWB32, and a qualitative segment that explored their spiritual history. Result Spirituality was commonly interpreted and understood synonymously with religion by all participants, and their sense of life’s meaning centred on their families and friends. The lack of support from religious organisations led to feelings of isolation and disconnection from spiritual communities. Highest scores in SWB were observed in Relationships with God and Someone/Something Greater Scales. The lowest score was observed for Existential fulfilment. Patients expressed a desire for their palliative care team to address their spiritual concerns, regardless of their training in this area. Conclusion Spirituality is a deeply personal aspect of the human experience. Understanding and respecting these beliefs can empower palliative care professionals to deliver culturally sensitive care to their patients, irrespective of their level of training.
Meeting the spiritual needs of a dying person
Nova prisutnost, 2022
Most palliative care research confirms that spirituality has an important role and thus it is necessary to pay attention to the spiritual needs of dying even more. In this article, the author briefly presents the relationship between religion and spirituality, the meaning of different types of spirituality, and how everyone can live their own form of spirituality, as spirituality is a part of their life that they have chosen freely and consciously. In the following, he explores how understanding the spiritual needs of the dying person depends on understanding spirituality and its impact on human life, especially on health. In the last part, he presents the fundamental spiritual needs for anyone who wishes to pay attention to a dying man in the most integral way possible.
Perspectives on spirituality at the end of life: A meta-summary
Palliative & Supportive Care, 2006
Objective: A meta-summary of the qualitative literature on spiritual perspectives of adults who are at the end of life was undertaken to summarily analyze the research to date and identify areas for future research on the relationship of spirituality with physical, functional, and psychosocial outcomes in the health care setting.