Alternative Visions for Pastoral Work with LGBTQ Individuals, Families, and Communities: A Response

2017 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-68
Author(s):  
Joretta L. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Pastoral Counselors ◽  
Pastoral Work ◽  
Spirituality And Sexuality

Multiple theological perspectives provide frameworks for pastoral work with lesbian, gay, bisesxual and trans individuals, families, and communities. One model is offered by those who argue for celibacy or heterosexual marriages for those who self-identify as part of LGBTQ communities. This article names other theologically grounded perspectives with the goal of inviting practitioners to broaden their understandings and wrestle with the implications of their theological and ethical stances. When reflecting on the intersection of spirituality and sexuality, the meaning of theological terms such as sin, contributions from queer theologians and pastoral counselors, and the limitations of binary categories common in our theological history, this article encourages pastoral counselors and spiritual care providers to re-examine theological assumptions they bring to their work. The article ends with questions and opportunities for ongoing pastoral theological work and reflection.

Spiritual care for the critically ill

1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Clark ◽  
T Heidenreich
Keyword(s):  
Critical Care ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Nursing Interventions ◽  
Negative Feeling ◽  
Technical Competence ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Spiritual Assessment ◽  
Spiritual Well Being

BACKGROUND: Spiritual well-being is the center of a healthy lifestyle and enables holistic integration of one's inner resources. However, the professional education process does not adequately provide socialization of nurses in the provision of spiritual care. Few studies exist that adequately address the spiritual aspect of nursing care. PURPOSE: To identify factors that contribute to providing spiritual care for patients in intensive care units. METHODS: A descriptive research design was used for this replication study conducted on a convenience sample of 63 patients in the critical care unit of a large midwestern military hospital. A trained interviewer asked each participant three open-ended questions regarding events that had created hope or meaning, created negative feeling, and could have contributed to hope or meaning. The interview took place 1 to 2 days after discharge from the intensive care unit. Predominant patterns were determined by content analysis. RESULTS: Three themes were identified as integral to the spiritual well-being of critical care patients: care providers, family/friends, and religion/faith. Nursing interventions identified for the three themes include establishing trusting relationships, providing in-depth spiritual assessment, conveying technical competence, and acting as facilitator among family, clergy, and other providers. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the key nursing interventions derived from this study include listening to patients' concerns and maintaining and conveying technical competence.

Significant Change in the North American Spiritual Care Education and Psychotherapy Movement

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 150-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven S. Ivy
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
American Association ◽  
Clinical Pastoral Education ◽  
Pastoral Education ◽  
Pastoral Counselors ◽  
Care Education ◽  
The North ◽  
Significant Change

ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education (previously Association for Clinical Pastoral Education) has received the membership of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC) into an integrated organization. This integration may mark the beginning of an organizational trend.

The Physician’s Role in Responding to Existential Suffering: What Does It Mean to Comfort Always?

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-12
Author(s):  
Hermioni L. Amonoo ◽  
Jennifer H. Harris ◽  
William S. Murphy ◽  
Janet L. Abrahm ◽  
John R. Peteet
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Psychological Symptoms ◽  
Time Constraints ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Existential Suffering ◽  
Existential Distress ◽  
Existential Needs ◽  
Instrumental Role

Existential suffering is commonly experienced by patients with serious medical illnesses despite the advances in the treatment of physical and psychological symptoms that often accompany incurable diseases. Palliative care (PC) clinicians wishing to help these patients are faced with many barriers including the inability to identify existential suffering, lack of training in how to address it, and time constraints. Although mental health and spiritual care providers play an instrumental role in addressing the existential needs of patients, PC clinicians are uniquely positioned to coordinate the necessary resources for addressing existential suffering in their patients. With this article, we present a case of a patient in existential distress and a framework to equip PC clinicians to assess and address existential suffering.

scholarly journals Teaching Health Care Providers To Provide Spiritual Care: A Pilot Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 408-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelika A. Zollfrank ◽  
Kelly M. Trevino ◽  
Wendy Cadge ◽  
Michael J. Balboni ◽  
Mary Martha Thiel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Care Providers

Exploring Nurse Communication About Spirituality

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 566-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Wittenberg ◽  
Sandra L. Ragan ◽  
Betty Ferrell
Keyword(s):  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Oncology Nurses ◽  
Communication Training ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Care Experience ◽  
Nursing Role ◽  
Nurse Communication ◽  
Spiritual Communication

Objective: Although spiritual care is considered one of the pillars of palliative care, many health-care providers never receive formal training on how to communicate about spirituality with patients and families. The aim of this study was to explore the spiritual care experiences of oncology nurses in order to learn more about patient needs and nurse responses. Methods: A survey was circulated at a communication training course for oncology nurses in June 2015. Nurses recalled a care experience that included the initiation of a spiritual care topic and their response to the patient/family. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Nurses reported that communication about spirituality was primarily initiated by patients, rather than family members, and spiritual topics commonly emerged during the end of life or when patients experienced spiritual distress. Nurses’ experiences highlighted the positive impact spiritual conversations had on the quality of patient care and its benefit to families. Spiritual communication was described as an important nursing role at the end of patients’ lives, and nonverbal communication, listening, and discussing patients’ emotions were emphasized as important and effective nurse communication skills during spiritual care conversations. Approximately one-third of nurses in the sample reported sharing their own personal spiritual or religious backgrounds with patients, and they reported that these sharing experiences strengthened their own faith. Conclusion: It is evident that patients want to discuss spiritual topics during care. Study findings illustrate the need to develop a spiritual communication curriculum and provide spiritual care communication training to clinicians.

Do Pastoral Care Providers Recognize Nurses as Spiritual Care Providers?

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Cavendish ◽  
MaryAnn Edelman ◽  
Linda Naradovy ◽  
MaryAnn McPartlan Bajo ◽  
Irene Perosi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Care Providers

scholarly journals Spiritual Care in Advanced Dementia from the Perspective of Health Providers: A Qualitative Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Lucía Rocío Camacho-Montaño ◽  
Jorge Pérez-Corrales ◽  
Marta Pérez-de-Heredia-Torres ◽  
Ana María Martin-Pérez ◽  
Javier Güeita-Rodríguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Spiritual Needs ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Advanced Dementia ◽  
Research Guidelines ◽  
Qualitative Systematic Review

Background. Worldwide, 47 million people suffer from dementia. Despite recognizing the importance of spirituality within dementia care, it is still unclear how this should be integrated into dementia services. Aim. To explore the perspective of health professionals regarding the spiritual care of people with advanced dementia. Methods. A qualitative systematic review was performed following the Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research guidelines for the study design. The inclusion criteria included original articles published from January 2008 to March 2019, using either qualitative or mixed methods. The quality of the articles included was evaluated using the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research, Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research, and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. Synthesis of findings was performed using thematic analysis. Results. Twelve studies were included in the review. Seventeen categories were identified, grouped into four themes: (1) the perception of spirituality, including the failure to address the same, (2) the spiritual needs of people with advanced dementia, (3) spiritual needs from health care providers, and (4) addressing spirituality, with the following categories: music, significant activities, among others. Conclusions. Spirituality is not formally addressed in this population, and professionals do not feel confident enough to be able to integrate spirituality in their care. It is necessary to identify and record the spiritual needs of people with advanced dementia, as well as to design specific care programs.

scholarly journals Spirituality as an Essential Element of Person-Centered Care

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 885-886
Author(s):  
Rachel Nathan ◽  
Deborah Zuercher ◽  
Steven Eveland ◽  
Anjana Chacko ◽  
Raya Kheirbek
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Chronic Illness ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Sensitivity Assessment ◽  
Centered Care

Abstract Data demonstrate that the majority of patients with serious or chronic illness would like their clinicians to address their spirituality but that the majority of clinicians do not provide such care. Reasons cited include lack of training. Palliative Medicine, built on the biopsychosocial-spiritual model of care, has long recognized the critical role of spirituality in the care of patients with complex, serious, and chronic illness. There is mounting evidence that spiritual care is a fundamental component of all high-quality compassionate health care, and it is most effective when it is recognized and reflected in the attitudes and actions of both patients and health care providers. We conducted focus groups as a first step in the process to arrive at a consensus definition of “spiritual care.” A second step involved collecting and comparing frameworks and models that recognize that providers cannot be made compassionate simply through the imposition of rules; methods were needed to achieve behavior change. The study group developed and piloted curriculum to train health care providers. The created curricula covered the definitions of a spiritual care, self-awareness, cultural sensitivity, assessment, and skills. As part of ongoing curriculum development processes, training included evaluation tools to accompany skill development . Our work demonstrated the need for compassionate presence during encounters, for applying the spirituality in professional life; and for identifying ethical issues in inter-professional spiritual care. We concluded that it is feasible to train clinicians to address spirituality and provide holistic and patient-centered care in an effort to minimize suffering.

Barriers to Addressing the Spiritual and Religious Needs of Patients and Families in the Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Study of Critical Care Physicians

2020 ◽  
pp. 104990912097090
Author(s):  
Christian K. Alch ◽  
Christina L. Wright ◽  
Kristin M. Collier ◽  
Philip J. Choi
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Critical Care ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Spiritual Needs ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Data Saturation

Objectives: Though critical care physicians feel responsible to address spiritual and religious needs with patients and families, and feel comfortable in doing so, they rarely address these needs in practice. We seek to explore this discrepancy through a qualitative interview process among physicians in the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: A qualitative research design was constructed using semi-structured interviews among 11 volunteer critical care physicians at a single institution in the Midwest. The physicians discussed barriers to addressing spiritual and religious needs in the ICU. A code book of themes was created and developed through a regular and iterative process involving 4 investigators. Data saturation was reached as no new themes emerged. Results: Physicians reported feeling uncomfortable in addressing the spiritual needs of patients with different religious views. Physicians reported time limitations, and prioritized biomedical needs over spiritual needs. Many physicians delegate these conversations to more experienced spiritual care providers. Physicians cited uncertainty into how to access spiritual care services when they were desired. Additionally, physicians reported a lack of reminders to meet these needs, mentioning frequently the ICU bundle as one example. Conclusions: Barriers were identified among critical care physicians as to why spiritual and religious needs are rarely addressed. This may help inform institutions on how to better meet these needs in practice.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document