Spirituality, Spiritual Well-Being, and Spiritual Coping in Advanced Heart Failure: Review of the Literature

Abstract

Heart failure is a chronic and terminal disease that affects a significant portion of the U.S. population. It is marked by considerable suffering, for which palliative care has been recommended. Palliative care standards require the inclusion of spiritual care, but there is a paucity of literature supporting effective spiritual interventions for the heart failure population. A literature search resulted in 30 articles meeting the criteria for review of spirituality and spiritual coping in the heart failure population. Findings within this body of literature include descriptive evidence of the uniqueness of spirituality in this population, quantitative and qualitative approaches to inquiry, theoretical models of spiritual coping, and proposed interventions. The article concludes with implications for future research and practice.

Keywords: cardiovascular/cardiac/coronary; common themes; death and dying/end of life/palliative care; group/population; specific conditions; specific conditions, adults; spirituality.