The difficulties assessing spiritual distress in palliative care patients: a qualitative study
Title
The difficulties assessing spiritual distress in palliative care patients: a qualitative study
Creator
Abbas SQ; Dein S
Publisher
Mental Health, Religion & Culture
Date
2010
Subject
Spirituality
Description
This paper reports on a focus group study aimed at exploring the difficulties that palliative care healthcare professionals encounter while assessing the spiritual distress of their patients. Three focus groups were conducted in a hospice (n = 15). Participants were all healthcare professionals working in the hospice in-patient unit. Interviews were taped and later transcribed. The data was analysed through content analysis. Emergent themes included: lack of vocabulary around spiritual issues, personal issues surrounding death and dying, training issues, fear of being unable to resolve spiritual problems, time constraints and difficulty separating spiritual and religious needs. Participants provided a number of recommendations for improving care. This pilot study has generated useful data in relation to how spiritual care of patients might be improved. Despite the abundance of academic publications and policies on spirituality, this area is not integrated well into palliative care.
2010
Rights
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Type
Journal Article
Citation List Month
Backlog
Citation
Abbas SQ; Dein S, “The difficulties assessing spiritual distress in palliative care patients: a qualitative study,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed April 25, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/13871.