Review: The understanding of spirituality and the potential role of spiritual care in end-of-life and palliative care: a meta-study of qualitative research

Edwards, Adrian; Pang, Nicholas Tze Ping; Shiu, V.; Chan, Cecilia L. W.

doi:10.1177/0269216310375860

Cited by 340 publications

(348 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…Some researchers suggest that these concepts are interlinked and an adolescent cannot distinguish between religion and spirituality because they have no clear boundaries [10]. In the research of Edward, patients considered spirituality as an abstract and difficult concept to define [15]. In the present study, adolescents were not able to distinguish between the concepts of religion and spirituality, and stated that spirituality is a form of religion.…”

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 64%

Spiritual/Religious Needs of Adolescents with Cancer

Zeighamy

Sadeghi

2016

Religions

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Adolescents, when faced with cancer and hospitalization, experience different needs that can have a profound impact on the adolescent and their family. Spirituality and religion are helpful in order to find meaning in the experience of cancer. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the spiritual/religious needs of adolescents with cancer in Iran. This study was an exploratory qualitative research. Adolescents with cancer, their families and nurses working in cancer unit formed the participants. The study environment was the cancer unit and the study population was adolescents with cancer in Kerman, Iran. Purposeful sampling and, semi-structured interviews with 14 adolescents with cancer and their families and six nurses were performed individually. To analyze the data, qualitative content analysis was used. From the data analysis four main themes emerged: the need for a relationship with God; the need for a relationship with the self; the need for a relationship with others; and the need for a relationship with the environment and nature. The results of this study provided a new vision in meeting the spiritual/religious needs of adolescents with cancer. According our result, adolescents with cancer, in addition to their developmental stage, need to face the other needs that can come along with the needs of this age period. Regarding these needs, it is helpful to find purpose and meaning in the experience of suffering and pain, and it can prevent spiritual distress.

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Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 64%

Spiritual/Religious Needs of Adolescents with Cancer

Zeighamy

Sadeghi

2016

Religions

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“…This is acknowledged in a metasynthesis, where spiritual care was synthesised to be relational, provided in a relationship with others and with a focus on presence, journeying together, listening, connecting, creating openings and engaging in reciprocal sharing (7). The importance of confirmation in communication has been acknowledged by Nåden and Saeteren (8), where outer confirmation was found to involve being understood and being taken seriously and inner confirmation involves maintaining human dignity and human worth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Training Intervention for Health Care Staff in the Provision of Existential Support to Patients With Cancer: A Randomized, Controlled Study

Henoch

Danielson

Strang

et al. 2013

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

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Context: When a patient receives a cancer diagnosis, existential issues become more compelling.Throughout the illness trajectory, cancer patients could be cared for on oncology wards, by home care teams or in hospices. Nurses working with these patients are sometimes aware of the patients' existential needs but do not feel confident when discussing these issues.Objectives: To determine the effects of a training intervention, where the focus is on existential issues and nurses' perceived confidence in communication and their attitude towards caring for dying patients.Methods: This was a randomised, controlled trial with a training intervention consisting of theoretical training in existential issues combined with individual and group reflection. In total, 102 nurses on oncology wards and hospice wards and in palliative home care teams were randomised to a training group or non-training group. Primary outcomes, confidence in communication and attitude towards the care of dying patients were measured at baseline, immediately after the training and five to six months after.Results: Confidence in communication improved significantly in the training group from baselinebefore the training -to both the first and second follow-up, i.e. immediately after the training and five months after. The attitude towards caring for the dying did not improve in the training group.Conclusion: This study shows that short-term training with reflection improves the confidence of healthcare staff when communicating, which is important for healthcare managers with limited resources. Further studies are needed to explore how patients experience the communication skills of healthcare staff after such training.

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“…Palliative care emphatically acknowledges that serious and terminal illnesses cause much distress to the body, mind and spirit of the person. Therefore, among various other branches of medicine, palliative care remains one of the leading healthcare disciplines heavily involved in research on spirituality [56,57]. These studies have employed a wide range of social science methodologies and tools in their attempt to understand spirituality, including grounded theory, phenomenology, narrative based and other qualitative approaches [58][59][60][61][62].…”

Section: Methodological Issues In the Study Of Spiritualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

History, Culture and Traditions: The Silent Spaces in the Study of Spirituality at the End of Life

Inbadas

2016

Religions

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Recent increase in the number of studies on spirituality manifests growing recognition of the importance of spirituality, as well as mounting interest in studying spirituality in healthcare. Most studies on spirituality in end of life care focus on identifying specific features of spirituality and often represent an individualistic understanding of spirituality. They seldom engage in a historical-cultural exploration of the contextual meanings of those features of spirituality. This paper aims to demonstrate the absence of contextual factors in studying spirituality at the end of life and to highlight the growing recognition of the importance of history, culture and traditions as resources to enrich our understanding of spirituality. An exploration of the concept of spirituality, an overview of the trajectory of the study of spirituality and a review of existing methodological stances reveal the silent space in current approaches to understanding spirituality at the end of life. Recognition of the importance of these contextual factors in understanding spirituality is growing, which is yet to influence the conceptualization and the conduct of spirituality research. Contextual understandings of spirituality that incorporate insights from the history, culture and traditions of specific contexts can inform effective means for providing spiritual support in clinical practice.

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Review: The understanding of spirituality and the potential role of spiritual care in end-of-life and palliative care: a meta-study of qualitative research

Cited by 340 publications

References 84 publications

Spiritual/Religious Needs of Adolescents with Cancer

Spiritual/Religious Needs of Adolescents with Cancer

Training Intervention for Health Care Staff in the Provision of Existential Support to Patients With Cancer: A Randomized, Controlled Study

History, Culture and Traditions: The Silent Spaces in the Study of Spirituality at the End of Life

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