New Guidelines on Providing End-of-Life Spiritual Care

Some time ago, psychologists and social scientists determined that a significant discrepancy exists in hospitals and homes, between the expectations terminally-ill patients have of those around them, and the things they actually receive in response. The experts emphasized the fact that relationships are the main method through which these people get the spiritual care they need at the end of their lives, but add that the subjects do not always received what they ask for. This is why a new set of recommendations on how to improve this aspect of life was just launched, AlphaGalileo reports.

The paper appears in the July 23 issue of the esteemed scientific journal Palliative Medicine, a publication of the SAGE group. The document shows that, when it comes to spirituality, the expectations and level of understanding terminally-ill patients have differed markedly from those of relatives and other caregivers. The primary reason for this is the fact that medical personal oftentimes finds it very difficult to define what “spirituality” and “spiritual care” mean, the authors of the research say. On the other hand, the patients rate their need for these things as “very high.” This is the root of the discrepancy, the journal entry proposes.

The new work is basically a meta-study of personality, developed by combining qualitative data obtained from 19 studies on 178 patients and 116 healthcare providers. Scientist Adrian Edwards, who holds an appointment at the University of Cardiff, led the study with colleagues Naomi Pang, Vicky Shiu and Cecelia Chan, all of which are based in Hong Kong, China. The group organized an exhaustive review of the palliative care literature, in order to be able to identify the most relevant patterns and solutions. The data in the studies was collected between 2001 and 2009, and referred to atheists, Taoists, Christians and Buddhists, in countries including the UK, the US, Australia, and Japan.

“A ‘spirit to spirit’ framework for spiritual care-giving respects individual personhood. This was achieved in the way physical care was given, by focusing on presence, journeying together, listening, connecting, creating openings, and engaging in reciprocal sharing,” Edwards argues. He admits that people taking care of their relatives at home are generally not prepared for handling such situations. A number of factors - including lack of time, personal, cultural or institutional reasons, and professional educational needs – oftentimes prevent relatives and caregivers from fulfilling their final duties.

But knowing the problem is a good starting point in solving it, Edwards says. “By addressing these, we may make an important contribution to the improvement of patient care towards the end of life,” Edwards concludes.