Spirituality in the continuing education of healthcare professionals: An approach to palliative care

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 662-667
Author(s):  
Luciana Winterkorn Dezorzi ◽  
Marcia Mocellin Raymundo ◽  
José Roberto Goldim ◽  
Ceres Andréia Vieira de Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Continuing Education ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Patient Counseling ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Major Barrier ◽  
Personal Support ◽  
Education Activity

AbstractObjectiveA major barrier to the adoption of an approach that integrates spirituality into palliative care is the lack of preparation/education of healthcare professionals on the topic. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a continuing education activity for healthcare professionals addressing spirituality and spiritual care provision to patients and families within palliative care.MethodWe conducted an intervention study using a quantitative pre- and posttest design in a convenience sample of 52 healthcare professionals. Participants completed the Brazilian version of the Spiritual Care Competence Scale before and after attending a four-hour continuing education activity.ResultSignificant differences were observed between pre- and postintervention scores in the following dimensions: assessment and implementation of spiritual care, professionalization and improving the quality of spiritual care, personal support, and patient counseling (p < 0.001), and referral (p = 0.003).Significance of resultsThe results of this study provide preliminary evidence of a positive effect of this educational intervention on the development of the competences needed by healthcare professionals to deliver a comprehensive approach centered on the patient/family, which includes attention to spirituality and spiritual care in the decision-making process.

Nurses’ Perceptions of Competence in Providing Spiritual Care

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy H. Abell ◽  
Dawn Garrett-Wright ◽  
Caitlyn E. Abell
Keyword(s):  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Patient Counseling ◽  
Significant Component ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Personal Support ◽  
Correlational Research ◽  
Demographic Questionnaire ◽  
Competence Scale ◽  
Nurses Perceptions

Purpose: The study examined nurses’ perception of competence in providing spiritual care. Design of Study: A descriptive correlational research design with a convenience sample was used. Method: Participates completed a demographic questionnaire and the Spiritual Care Competence Scale, which has six domains: assessment and implementation of spiritual care, professionalization and improving the quality of spiritual care, personal support and patient counseling, referral to professionals, attitude toward the patient’s spirituality, and communication. Findings: The domain of communication had the most favorable perception among participants and the domain of professionalization and improving the quality of spiritual care had the least favorable perception. Conclusions: It is important for nurses to have the opportunity to gain knowledge regarding this significant component of holistic care.

Spirituality and the Care of Patients at the End-of-Life: An Essential Component of Care

2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina M. Puchalski
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
The United States ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Essential Component ◽  
Spiritual Issues ◽  
Hospice And Palliative Care

Spirituality is an essential component of the care of patients with serious illness and those that are dying. Dame Cicely Saunders developed the hospice movement based on the biopsychosocialspiritual model of care, in which all four dimensions are important in the care of patients. Of all the models of care, hospice and palliative care recognize the importance of spiritual issues in the care of patients and their families. The National Consensus Project Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care, in the United States, provides specific recommendations about all domains of care including the spiritual domain, which is recognized as a critical component of care (The National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care www.nationalconsensusproject.org ). Studies indicate that the majority of patients would like their spiritual issues addressed, yet find that their spiritual needs are not being met by the current system of care. Interestingly, spirituality is the one dimension that seems to get slightly less emphasis than the biopsychosocial dimensions of care. Some reasons may include the difficulty with definitions of spirituality for clinical and research purposes, the time constraints and financial burdens in the current healthcare system in the United States, and the lack of uniform training for all healthcare professionals. Yet, there are theoretical and ethical frameworks that support spiritual care as well as some educational models in spirituality and health that have been successful in medical education in the United States. Spirituality can be seen as the essential part of the humanity of all people. It is at its root, relational and thus forms the basis of the altruistic care healthcare professionals are committed to. Spirituality has to do with respecting the inherent value and dignity of all persons, regardless of their health status. It is the part of humans that seeks healing, particularly in the midst of suffering. Spiritual care models are based on an intrinsic aspect that calls for compassionate presence to patients as well as an extrinsic component where healthcare professionals address spiritual issues with patients and their loved ones. Currently in the healthcare system, evidence-base models are the criteria for practice recommendations. Yet, spirituality may not be amenable entirely to strict evidence-base criteria. As hospice and palliative care continues to develop as a field, healthcare professionals are challenged to think of ways to advocate for and include the spiritual dimension of care.

scholarly journals Training Spiritual Care in Palliative Care in Teaching Hospitals in the Netherlands (SPIRIT-NL): A Multicentre Trial.

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joep Van De Geer ◽  
Hetty Zock ◽  
Carlo Leget ◽  
Nic Veeger ◽  
Jelle Prins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Multicentre Trial ◽  
Physical Symptoms ◽  
Teaching Hospitals ◽  
Medical Specialization ◽  
Palliative Care Consultation ◽  
Palliative Care Teams

Background: In the Netherlands, the spiritual dimension in healthcare became marginal in the second part of the twentieth century. In the Dutch healthcare system, palliative care is not a medical specialization and teaching hospitals do not have specialist palliative care units with specialized palliative care teams. Palliative care in these hospitals is delivered by healthcare professionals in general departments (mainly curative focused ones), and is based on multidisciplinary guidelines supported by palliative care consultation teams. A national multidisciplinary guideline on spiritual care is included, but standardized training based on this guideline still lacks. Implementation of this guideline is expected to have a positive effect on quality of care but is in an early state, the role of the specialists in this field—the healthcare chaplains—is developing. The objective of this article is to present the protocol of this study and stimulate discussion about methods of research on spirituality and spiritual care.Methods and Findings: This action research study is planned as an explorative multicentre trial. Healthcare chaplains of ten teaching hospitals will offer training onspiritual care in palliative care for healthcare professionals. What is the effect of this intervention on the competences of clinical teams? What is the effect on the perceived care and treatment as experienced by patients? The effects of the intervention on the competences of the clinicians will be measured once pre-study and twice post-study. Effects on patients’ physical symptoms and spiritual distress, and the perceived focus of caregivers on their spiritual needs or existential questions will also be measured pre- and post-study.

Facilitating the Provision of Quality Spiritual Care in Palliative Care

2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 37-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hillel Bodek
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Social Suffering ◽  
Critical Component ◽  
Consensus Panel ◽  
Hospice Movement ◽  
Total Pain ◽  
Care Training ◽  
Core Principle

In 1948, Dame Cicely Saunders, the founder of the modern hospice movement, established a core principle of palliative care, Total Pain, which is defined as physical, spiritual, psychological, and social suffering. In 2009, a consensus panel (Puchalski, Ferrell, Virani, Otis-Green, Baird, Bull, et al., 2009) was convened to address the important issue of integrating spirituality in palliative care, which led to renewed efforts to focus on spiritual care as a critical component of quality palliative care. This project is a combination of advocacy for the importance of spiritual care, training chaplains, seminarians, community clergy, and healthcare professionals in palliative care, and creating a spiritual care curriculum which can be self-taught or taught to members of transdisciplinary teams.

scholarly journals Training hospital staff on spiritual care in palliative care influences patient-reported outcomes: Results of a quasi-experimental study

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 743-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joep van de Geer ◽  
Marieke Groot ◽  
Richtsje Andela ◽  
Carlo Leget ◽  
Jelle Prins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Patient Reported Outcomes ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Physical Symptoms ◽  
Spiritual Needs ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Spiritual Distress ◽  
Patient Reported ◽  
Care Training

Background: Spiritual care is reported to be important to palliative patients. There is an increasing need for education in spiritual care. Aim: To measure the effects of a specific spiritual care training on patients’ reports of their perceived care and treatment. Design: A pragmatic controlled trial conducted between February 2014 and March 2015. Setting/participants: The intervention was a specific spiritual care training implemented by healthcare chaplains to eight multidisciplinary teams in six hospitals on regular wards in which patients resided in both curative and palliative trajectories. In total, 85 patients were included based on the Dutch translation of the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool. Data were collected in the intervention and control wards pre- and post-training using questionnaires on physical symptoms, spiritual distress, involvement and attitudes (Spiritual Attitude and Involvement List) and on the perceived focus of healthcare professionals on patients’ spiritual needs. Results: All 85 patients had high scores on spiritual themes and involvement. Patients reported that attention to their spiritual needs was very important. We found a significant ( p = 0.008) effect on healthcare professionals’ attention to patients’ spiritual and existential needs and a significant ( p = 0.020) effect in favour of patients’ sleep. No effect on the spiritual distress of patients or their proxies was found. Conclusion: The effects of spiritual care training can be measured using patient-reported outcomes and seemed to indicate a positive effect on the quality of care. Future research should focus on optimizing the spiritual care training to identify the most effective elements and developing strategies to ensure long-term positive effects. This study was registered at the Dutch Trial Register: NTR4559.

Palliative und spirituelle Aspekte der psychosozialen Onkologie

2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (03) ◽  
pp. 158-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Frick ◽  
P. Heußner
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Spiritual Care

ZusammenfassungSpiritual Care und palliative Care machen sowohl auf Seiten des Patienten als auch des therapeutischen Teams eine mehrdimensionale Blickweise erforderlich, die die Grenzen des rein Somatischen überschreitet. Ihnen gemeinsam ist die Sorge für den Betroffenen – eine Perspektive, die der Medizin immanent sein könnte, aber nicht immer als selbstverständliche, nicht zu delegierende Aufgabe angesehen wird. Dabei gilt der Grundsatz der Subsidiarität: Priorität haben immer die Bewältigungsressourcen des Patienten und seines Umfeldes, die von den professionell und ehrenamtlich Helfenden unterstützt werden. In der Herausforderung dieses Arbeitsumfeldes geraten die Professionellen unweigerlich in die Konfrontation mit der eigenen Endlichkeit des Lebens, den damit verbundenen existenziellen Ängsten und den eigenen Widerständen. Diese Auseinandersetzung mit der Unheimlichkeit des Lebensendes, ihr respektvoll zu begegnen und nicht angstvoll zu verdrängen, kann im positiven Sinne als Burnout-Prophylaxe wirksam werden.

scholarly journals What makes palliative care needs “complex”? A multisite sequential explanatory mixed methods study of patients referred for specialist palliative care

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne M. Finucane ◽  
Connie Swenson ◽  
John I. MacArtney ◽  
Rachel Perry ◽  
Hazel Lamberton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Specialist Palliative Care ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Sequential Explanatory ◽  
Palliative Care Needs

Abstract Background Specialist palliative care (SPC) providers tend to use the term ‘complex’ to refer to the needs of patients who require SPC. However, little is known about complex needs on first referral to a SPC service. We examined which needs are present and sought the perspectives of healthcare professionals on the complexity of need on referral to a hospice service. Methods Multi-site sequential explanatory mixed method study consisting of a case-note review and focus groups with healthcare professionals in four UK hospices. Results Documentation relating to 239 new patient referrals to hospice was reviewed; and focus groups involving 22 healthcare professionals conducted. Most patients had two or more needs documented on referral (96%); and needs were recorded across two or more domains for 62%. Physical needs were recorded for 91% of patients; psychological needs were recorded for 59%. Spiritual needs were rarely documented. Referral forms were considered limited for capturing complex needs. Referrals were perceived to be influenced by the experience and confidence of the referrer and the local resource available to meet palliative care needs directly. Conclusions Complexity was hard to detail or to objectively define on referral documentation alone. It appeared to be a term used to describe patients whom primary or secondary care providers felt needed SPC knowledge or support to meet their needs. Hospices need to provide greater clarity regarding who should be referred, when and for what purpose. Education and training in palliative care for primary care nurses and doctors and hospital clinicians could reduce the need for referral and help ensure that hospices are available to those most in need of SPC input.

scholarly journals The role of research in improving responsiveness of palliative care to migrants and other underserved populations in the Netherlands: a qualitative interview study

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Torensma ◽  
B. D. Onwuteaka-Philipsen ◽  
X. de Voogd ◽  
D. L. Willems ◽  
J. L. Suurmond
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Underserved Populations ◽  
Ethnic Disparities ◽  
Migration Background ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Migrant Populations ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
Qualitative Interview Study ◽  
Palliative Patient

Abstract Background The aging of migrant populations across Europe challenges researchers in palliative care to produce knowledge that can be used to respond to the needs of the growing group of patients with a migration background and address ethnic disparities in palliative care. The aim of this study was to identify what factors influence researchers’ efforts to address responsiveness of palliative care to patients with a migration background and other underserved populations in their projects. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 researchers involved in seven projects under the Dutch national program for palliative care innovation. Results Researchers’ efforts to address responsiveness of palliative care in their projects were influenced by individual factors, i.e. awareness of the need for responsiveness to patients with a migration background; experience with responsiveness; and, differences in perceptions on responsiveness in palliative care. Researchers’ efforts were furthermore influenced by institutional factors, i.e. the interaction with healthcare institutions and healthcare professionals as they rely on their ability to identify the palliative patient with a migration background, address the topic of palliative care, and enrol these patients in research; scientific standards that limit the flexibility needed for responsive research; and, the responsiveness requirements set by funding agencies. Conclusion Researchers play a key role in ensuring research addresses responsiveness to patients with a migration background. Such responsiveness may also benefit other underserved populations. However, at times researchers lack the knowledge and experience needed for responsive research. To address this we recommend training in responsiveness for researchers in the field of palliative care. We also recommend training for healthcare professionals involved in research projects to increase enrolment of patients with a migration background and other underrepresented populations. Lastly, we encourage researchers as well as research institutions and funding agencies to allow flexibility in research practices and set a standard for responsive research practice.

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