Spiritual Care[Givers] Competence in Palliative Care: A Scoping Review

Cristina Costeira^{1

2

3}, Ana Querido^{1

2

4}, Filipa Ventura³, Hugo Loureiro³, Joana Coelho¹, Enric Benito⁵, Maria Nabal^{5

6}, Monica Dones^{5

7

8}, Marcela Specos^{5

9}, Carlos Laranjeira^{1

2

10}

Affiliations

¹ School of Health Sciences, Polytechnic University of Leiria, Campus 2, Morro do Lena, Alto do Vieiro, Apartado 4137, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal.
² Centre for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare), Polytechnic University of Leiria, Campus 5, Rua das Olhalvas, 2414-016 Leiria, Portugal.
³ Health Sciences Research Unit: Nursing (UICISA: E), Nursing School of Coimbra (ESEnfC), 3004-011 Coimbra, Portugal.
⁴ Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), NursID, University of Porto, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal.
⁵ Forum Ibero Americano de Espiritualidad, Fundacion SECPAL, C. Sta. Isabel n 51 Centro, 28012 Madrid, Spain.
⁶ Palliative Cares Supportive Team, Hospital Universitario Arnau de Vilanova de Lleida, Universidad de Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain.
⁷ Palliative Care Hospital Support Team, The Ramón y Cajal University Hospital of Madrid, 28034 Madrid, Spain.
⁸ Departamento de Enfermería, Facultad de Medicina, Autonomous University of Madrid, Calle del Arzobispo Morcillo, n° 4, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
⁹ Institute Pallium Latin-American, Bonpland 2287, Buenos Aires 1425, Argentina.
¹⁰ Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), University of Évora, 7000-801 Évora, Portugal.

PMID: 38891134
PMCID: PMC11171750
DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12111059

Spiritual Care[Givers] Competence in Palliative Care: A Scoping Review

Cristina Costeira et al. Healthcare (Basel). 2024.

. 2024 May 22;12(11):1059.

doi: 10.3390/healthcare12111059.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Health Sciences, Polytechnic University of Leiria, Campus 2, Morro do Lena, Alto do Vieiro, Apartado 4137, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal.
² Centre for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare), Polytechnic University of Leiria, Campus 5, Rua das Olhalvas, 2414-016 Leiria, Portugal.
³ Health Sciences Research Unit: Nursing (UICISA: E), Nursing School of Coimbra (ESEnfC), 3004-011 Coimbra, Portugal.
⁴ Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), NursID, University of Porto, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal.
⁵ Forum Ibero Americano de Espiritualidad, Fundacion SECPAL, C. Sta. Isabel n 51 Centro, 28012 Madrid, Spain.
⁶ Palliative Cares Supportive Team, Hospital Universitario Arnau de Vilanova de Lleida, Universidad de Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain.
⁷ Palliative Care Hospital Support Team, The Ramón y Cajal University Hospital of Madrid, 28034 Madrid, Spain.
⁸ Departamento de Enfermería, Facultad de Medicina, Autonomous University of Madrid, Calle del Arzobispo Morcillo, n° 4, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
⁹ Institute Pallium Latin-American, Bonpland 2287, Buenos Aires 1425, Argentina.
¹⁰ Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), University of Évora, 7000-801 Évora, Portugal.

PMID: 38891134
PMCID: PMC11171750
DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12111059

Abstract

To deliver spiritual care, professionals must be skilled in physical, mental, social, and spiritual care. Spiritual care competence includes knowledge, behaviors, attitudes, and skills that enable successful or efficient care. This review aims to identify the scope of competence and the specific skills, knowledge, and attitudes used in providing spiritual care to people needing palliative care, and the main challenges and facilitators. A scoping review was developed using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. Six databases (Web of Science; MEDLINE/Pubmed; Scopus; CINAHL; MedicLatina and SciELO) were searched in September 2023, with an update in January 2024. The resulting 30 articles were analyzed using a content analysis approach. Information was categorized into three domains: cognitive, affective, and functional (based on three personal resources: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal). Palliative care professionals face a lack of training and insufficient preparation to deliver spiritual care. Spiritual care competence depends on professional spiritual development and experience, spiritual intelligence (cognitive), spiritual humility (affective), and having a critical and reflexive mind (functional). In the future, palliative care should seek to improve competent spiritual care. This review could help clarify the real configuration of competent spiritual care and lead to improvements in a professional's empowerment when delivering effective spiritual care to patients and families.

Keywords: clinical practice; education; palliative care; review; spiritual care competence.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study, in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

**Figure 1**
PRISMA-ScR flowchart for identifying, screening, and selecting the articles included in the scoping review.

**Figure 2**
Geographic distributions of studies included in the scoping review.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Spiritual Care[Givers] Competence in Palliative Care: A Scoping Review

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Spiritual Care[Givers] Competence in Palliative Care: A Scoping Review

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