Toward a Fully Fledged Integration of Spiritual Care and Medical Care |
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Authors: | Renske Kruizinga Michael Scherer-Rath Hans J.B.A.M. Schilderman Christina M. Puchalski Hanneke H.W.M. van Laarhoven |
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Affiliation: | 1. Medical Oncology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;2. Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, The Netherlands;3. Department of Medicine and Health Science, The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA |
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Abstract: | In this article, we aimed to set out current problems that hinder a fully fledged integration of spiritual and medical care, which address these obstacles. We discuss the following five statements: 1) spiritual care requires a clear and inclusive definition of spirituality; 2) empirical evidence for spiritual care interventions should be improved; 3) understanding patients' experiences of contingency is paramount to deliver effective spiritual care; 4) attention to spiritual needs of patients is a task for every health care practitioner; 5) courses on spirituality and spiritual care should be mandatory in the medical curriculum. Current problems might be overcome by speaking each other's language, which is crucial in interdisciplinary research and in good interdisciplinary collaboration. Using a clear and inclusive definition of spirituality and substantiating spiritual care using medical standards of evidence-based practice is a way to speak each other's language and to increase mutual understanding. Furthermore, including spirituality in the medical curriculum would raise awareness of medical practitioners for their task of attending to patients' spiritual needs and, subsequently, to better and more appropriate referral for spiritual care. |
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Keywords: | Spiritual care medical curricula evidence based palliative oncology care spirituality |
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