Spiritual Care: Motivations and Experiences through the Lenses and Voices of a Cohort of Spiritual Care Workers at an Established Hospice in Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

While palliative care is beginning to gain prominence in South Africa, spiritual care remains less understood. Spiritual care is less prioritised and, consequently, this service, if offered, is mostly entrusted to volunteers. It therefore becomes prudent to understand who these volunteers are, what motivates them to volunteer, and how they see spiritual care being sustainable in the future. A cohort of spiritual care workers from a prominent hospice in Cape Town, South Africa, participated in this qualitative study. The participants made suggestions about formalising spiritual care as well as making a call for a basic entry requirement into spiritual care work.

Challenges and opportunities for spiritual care practice in hospices in a middle-income country

“…Though member organisations were offering valued spiritual care services, to varying levels, in practice spiritual care services did not receive as much priority as medical or psychosocial services [29]. Funding, and expertise constraints seemed key to the lack of resourcing for spiritual care, and we discuss each in turn.…”

“…The hard skills slanted more towards the spiritual care workers having a good understanding of spirituality as a phenomenon; spirituality as a key component of a palliative care service; and a good understanding of the religious, cultural and linguistic diversities underpinning how the spiritual care service would be shaped and delivered in SA settings. Interestingly, a cohort of hospices in the Western Cape Province of SA mentioned similar skills-sets [29]. The soft skills, as suggested by the member organisations, consisted of more intangible and nuanced skills that are typically acquired through practice and experience, such as being present while paying attention to the spirituality of the patient and their hopes; being self-reflective; and bringing peace to the patients.…”

“…Emerging from a draconian past characterised by racial segregation and apartheid, and although well into its 26th year of democracy, SA still experiences the injustices of resource allocation, unequal educational and sparse learning opportunities. SA is also very diverse culturally, linguistically, and spiritually [28], with spiritual care interventions practised from a range of perspectives [29].…”