Spiritual Care

What is Spiritual Care?

The WHO definition of palliative care encompasses meeting the spiritual (care) needs of patients, their family and caregivers in all settings. The Spiritual Care reference group has embraced the following working definition and comment:

“Spirituality is the dynamic dimension of human life that relates to the way persons (individual and community) experience, express and/or seek meaning, purpose and transcendence, and the way they connect to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, to the significant and/or the sacred.”

The spiritual field is multidimensional, containing:

• Existential challenges (e.g. questions concerning identity, meaning, suffering and death, guilt and shame, reconciliation and forgiveness, freedom and responsibility, hope and despair, love and joy).
• Value based considerations and attitudes (what is most important for each person, such as relations to oneself, family, friends, work, things nature, art and culture, ethics and morals, and life itself).
• Religious considerations and foundations (faith, beliefs and practices, the relationship with God or the ultimate).  Read the full article here