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Spiritual issues and needs: Perspectives from patients with advanced cancer and nonmalignant disease. A qualitative study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2005

ELIZABETH GRANT ,
SCOTT A. MURRAY ,
MARILYN KENDALL ,
KIRSTY BOYD ,
STEPHEN TILLEY  and
DESMOND RYAN
ELIZABETH GRANT
Affiliation:
Division of Community Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
SCOTT A. MURRAY
Affiliation:
Division of Community Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
MARILYN KENDALL
Affiliation:
Division of Community Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
KIRSTY BOYD
Affiliation:
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Little France, Edinburgh, UK
STEPHEN TILLEY
Affiliation:
Nursing Studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
DESMOND RYAN
Affiliation:
Nursing Studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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Abstract

Objective: Health care professionals and policy makers acknowledge that spiritual needs are important for many patients with life-limiting illnesses. We asked such patients to describe their spiritual needs and how these needs may impinge on their physical, psychological, and social well-being. Patients were also encouraged to explain in what ways their spiritual needs, if they had any, could be addressed.

Methods: We conducted two qualitative interviews, 3 months apart, with 20 patients in their last year of life: 13 patients with advanced cancer and 7 with advanced nonmalignant illness. We also interviewed each patient's general practitioner. Sixty-six interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed.

Results: Patients' spiritual needs centered around their loss of roles and self-identity and their fear of dying. Many sought to make sense of life in relation to a nonvisible or sacred world. They associated anxiety, sleeplessness, and despair with such issues, which at times resulted in them seeking support from health professionals. Patients were best able to engage their personal resources to meet these needs when affirmed and valued by health professionals.

Significance of results: Enabling patients to deal with their spiritual needs through affirmative relationships with health professionals may improve quality of life and reduce use of health resources. Further research to explore the relationship between spiritual distress and health service utilization is indicated.

Keywords

Spiritual needsPalliative careCancer
Type
Research Article
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 2 , Issue 4 , December 2004 , pp. 371 - 378
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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