Training for awareness of one's own spirituality: A key factor in overcoming barriers to the provision of spiritual care to advanced cancer patients by doctors and nurses.

Training for awareness of one’s own spirituality: A key factor in overcoming barriers to the provision of spiritual care to advanced cancer patients by doctors and nurses.

2018 Jan 9

01/09/2018

PubMed:

Palliat Support Care. 2018 Sep 6:1-8.

By Bar-Sela G, Schultz MJ, Elshamy K, Rassouli M, Ben-Arye E, Doumit M, Gafer N, Albashayreh A, Ghrayeb I, Turker I, Ozalp G, Kav S, Fahmi R, Nestoros S, Ghali H, Mula-Hussain L, Shazar I, Obeidat R, Punjwani R, Khleif M, Can G, Tuncel G, Charalambous H, Faraj S, Keoppi N, Al-Jadiry M, Postovsky S, Al-Omari M, Razzaq S, Ayyash H, Khader K, Kebudi R, Omran S, Rasheed O, Qadire M, Ozet A, Silbermann M.

Objective: When patients feel spiritually supported by staff, we find increased use of hospice and reduced use of aggressive treatments at end of life, yet substantial barriers to staff spiritual care provision still exist. We aimed to study these barriers in a new cultural context and analyzed a new subgroup with “unrealized potential” for improved spiritual care provision: those who are positively inclined toward spiritual care yet do not themselves provide it.

Method: We distributed the Religion and Spirituality in Cancer Care Study via the Middle East Cancer Consortium to physicians and nurses caring for advanced cancer patients. Survey items included how often spiritual care should be provided, how often respondents themselves provide it, and perceived barriers to spiritual care provision.ResultWe had 770 respondents (40% physicians, 60% nurses) from 14 Middle Eastern countries. The results showed that 82% of respondents think staff should provide spiritual care at least occasionally, but 44% provide spiritual care less often than they think they should. In multivariable analysis of respondents who valued spiritual care yet did not themselves provide it to their most recent patients, predictors included low personal sense of being spiritual (p < 0.001) and not having received training (p = 0.02; only 22% received training). How “developed” a country is negatively predicted spiritual care provision (p < 0.001). Self-perceived barriers were quite similar across cultures.Significance of resultsDespite relatively high levels of spiritual care provision, we see a gap between desirability and actual provision. Seeing oneself as not spiritual or only slightly spiritual is a key factor demonstrably associated with not providing spiritual care. Efforts to increase spiritual care provision should target those in favor of spiritual care provision, promoting training that helps participants consider their own spirituality and the role that it plays in their personal and professional lives.

Keywords: Cancer; Human development index; Middle East; Palliative care; Spiritual care; Spirituality.

More publications on the subject

PALLIATIVE SOCIAL WORK IN ISRAEL – CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

01/06/2022

Abstract Israel, a young country that constantly absorbs immigrants from different cultures, has a unique social structure. The mosaic of culture and values that

Adapting a palliative care-focused cancer self- and family management intervention for use in Israel

01/08/2022

Abstract Background: In Israel, there is a need to improve quality of life and health outcomes among patients and families facing cancer. Increasing awareness of,

Do Perceptions about Palliative Care Affect Emergency Decisions of Health Personnel for Patients with Advanced Dementia?

01/08/2022

Abstract Decision analysis regarding emergency medical treatment in patients with advanced dementia has seldom been investigated. We aimed to examine the preferred medical treatment

Identifying patients in need of palliative care: Adaptation of the Necesidades Paliativas CCOMS-ICO© (NECPAL) screening tool for use in Israel

01/02/2024

Abstract Objectives: The Necesidades Paliativas CCOMS-ICO© (NECPAL) screening tool was developed to identify patients in need of palliative care and has been used in Israel

Palliative team involvement in end-of-life care for Jewish and Muslim children in Jerusalem: A unique clinical and cultural context

01/02/2024

Abstract Objectives: Pediatric palliative care services improve the quality of life for children with life-limiting and life-threatening diseases, although little has been published about variation

Death education for Palliative care: a european project for University students

21/04/2023

Abstract Background: The need to spread the culture of palliative care and to train health care professionals from undergraduate courses is recognised internationally. The article