In the Beginning: A Canadian Ethnographic Study on Sources and Definitions of Spiritual Reflection Used by Health Care Professionals Who are Not Chaplains

Abstract

This qualitative study presents a literature review, methodology, findings and discussion from a sample of 20 health care professional around their experiences of sources and definitions of spiritual reflection. The sample includes nursing, social work, occupational therapy, medicine, physiotherapy, music therapy, psychology and recreational therapy. Major sources are music, poetry, stories and sacred texts. Definitions are meaning making and encountering the divine along with personal reflection on values and assumptions. Limitations of the research and recommendations for education, practice and future research are also presented.

Taking Inventory and Moving Forward: A Review of the Research Literature and Assessment of Qualitative Research in JPCC, 2010–2014

“…Ethnographic approaches to qualitative research are identified in 2 articles (5%) and are described as research on a particular group that constitutes a particular culture (O’Connor et al., 2010; see Table 3). While both articles present research that focuses on particular groups or cultures and utilize all the central elements of ethnography, it is unclear as to the extent to which either of these studies constitutes an ‘ethnography’ as defined by cultural anthropology and adapted by pastoral practitioners (McClintock-Fulkerson, 2007; Moschella, 2008, Wigg-Stevenson, 2014).…”

“…In terms of our second criteria -- researcher reflexivity -- 5 of 34 studies (14.7%) intentionally identify researcher reflexivity (O’Connor et al., 2010; Ashby & Verner, 2010; Pan, Chang, Jiang, & Lee, 2012; Marsay, 2013; Snodgrass, 2014). Each of these describes aspects of the researchers’ experiences and locations that affect and shape the focus of research.…”