Spiritual support as a part of palliative care of lung cancer patients

Abstract

Introduction. Healthcare workers should check if an oncology patient would like to be visited by a priest and if there are any religious rituals that would ease the treatment and eliminate the stress of people close to them. The aims of study have been to check if a lung cancer patient requires help from a priest during palliative oncological treatment and if a team for palliative care requires the presence of a priest. Material and Methods. The study included 200 lung cancer patients treated between 2015 and 2017 at the Institute for Pulmonary Diseases of Vojvodina. The sample was divided into two groups: patients with I, II, IIIA stage of carcinoma and the other with stadium of IIIB and IV. The research was performed by using a questionnaire to be completed by the patients. Results. A statistical significance was determined for the question ?Do you think that the priest can participate in your treatment?? The percentage of male and female patients who answered positively was 38.9% and 71.6%, respectively (p<0.001). As for the patients with the stage of the disease IIIA and stage IIIB and IV, that percentage was 24.4%, and 71.1%, respectively (p<0.001). Conclusion. Lung cancer patients need help from a priest which is more common in females and in patients in later stages of the disease. The team for palliative care of lung cancer patients also needs the participation of a priest in their work with these patients.