Spiritual Needs Assessment and Reflection

Part I: Interview

Spiritual assessment tools

HOPE

Question: During this difficult time, where do you get comfort and strength?

Answer:  My religious beliefs play an important role as it assist in coping with this situation. I believe that God has a power of healing and God alone will deliver me from pain and return back my health.

Question: Do you belong to a faith community? Is it helpful in your life especially in times of difficulties?

 Answer: Yes, I am a Catholic and I belong to St. Augustine. I can say that we are united by the blood of Jesus and through unity; we help each other grow spiritually through prayers. The gospel which I get from the faith community reminds me the cross of Jesus, the difficulties and challenges and he met and finally and he won the battle.

Question:  which kind of spiritual practice do you value most in your spiritual life?

Answer:  I like communicating with God through prayers as it help in gaining peace, comfort and strength.  I also like reading scripture as it helps in being closely connected with God and doing according to his will.

Question: Has your illness affected your spiritual growth?

Answer:  Yes, as a  human being, sometimes I also myself questions like; why does God allow this to happen to me, why I am I suffering while others are in good health?  These questions weaken my relationship with God.

Question:   during this time of suffering, would you like to speak to a religious leader?

Answer: Yes, I need a religious leader’s visit and I belief that by praying together, I will gain comfort and grow more spiritually.

Part II: Analysis

 

There were positive results

 The interview ended well and it produced pleasant results. The important result which I noticed was that the patient developed a sense of worth since the discussion on spiritual matters has a positive connection with her life. In fact, she was very happy and thanked me for considering spiritual matter in her current situation since spiritual health is also important in life (Anandarajah & Hight, 2001). She believes in God as the source of comfort and strength.  As the healthcare provider, I was able to understand the patient’s environment, spiritual and social situation. In addition, the interview session was important as patient understood the purpose of life and as a physicians, I am able to provide a holistic care. 

Barriers and challenges

 It is important to note that the major purpose of conducting a spiritual assessment is to provide spiritual care and meet the spiritual needs of patients.  Spiritual care is important as patients develops sense of worth and their regain vitality and feel comfortable despite suffering (Koenig, 2014).  However, the process is not an easy task since there are barriers which hindered effective assessment. The process and procedure was time consuming. Even though spiritual assessment is important for the well-being of the patient, other daily routine acts as a barrier for effective communication. In addition, conducting a spiritual assessment in order to offer a spiritual care is a practice which requires enough time. However, lack of time forces the spiritual care provider to open a Pandora’s Box due to the failure of covering all issues.  Other barrier which affected the assessment was discomfort (Koenig, 2014).  I was uncomfortable in dealing with spiritual matter since I lack the necessary skills required in this area. I have knowledge and skills based on health care services but I am not a profession in this area so I felt uncomfortable.  I also feared that the patient would feel uncomfortable for asking questions based on faith. In other words, I felt like the topic was personal and this hindered in continuing with the assessment (Koenig, 2014).  Autonomy acted an ethic barrier in that as a care provider, I had the moral obligation not to touch personal issues in order to maintain physician-patient relationship. The perception between I and the patient developed coercion since I may be forced to change her views. Since I am not a religious leader, I believed that I am not perfect in conducting the assessment compared with professionals in this area (Koenig, 2014).

 

 

Addressing the challenges

 In future, I would ensure that there is enough time for spiritual  assessment since I have understood that assessment is  not an optional activity but  it is an important services  of providing ’whole-person with quality physical and spiritual growth (Koenig, 2014).  To eliminate discomfort, I will try to build a strong relationship with patients and   make them comfortable by informing them that the assessment is part of offering care through respecting and valuing religious beliefs. Other important thing I would to ensure success in future assessment is realizing that offering spiritual care is my role as a health care profession. I would also further my education in this area through training in order to offer quality spiritual care (Koenig, 2014).Through training; I will gain spiritual self-awareness and understand my spiritual journey and that of patients. To avoid coercion brought by diversity in beliefs, I will   understand and respect the values and experience of patients and this will help build a strong physical-patient relationship. Empathy and respect of values will foster effective communication and trust. In case of situations where I feel uncomfortable, I will seek consultation from pastoral care provider. In assessment, my goals will be to offer strength in achieving spiritual hopes and values and providing them with spiritual support (Koenig, 2014).

Role of spiritual assessment tools in intervention

Spiritual assessment tools are important in providing appropriate intervention   in meeting the patient’s needs.  First, through identifying spiritual issues, as a physician I may get path for offering quality care. For example, some patients may be suffering from religious struggle and this issue can be addressing through seeking help from chaplains and paying attention to the spiritual concerns (Puchalski & Romer, 2000). In addition, spiritual assessment tool may   assist in finding resources necessary in offering quality care. For example, visitation from local church may be vital through praying together.  Other way to intervene to   patients needs is to eliminating unrealistic hopes and setting hopes. Other important point to understand that through spiritual assessment, I am able to understand the resources needed by the patients to improve the occupational performance (Puchalski & Romer, 2000). Collaboration with patients and gathering spiritual information will help create a treatment plan in addressing needs. The tools are also important in that   they will help in developing problem solving and coping skills in addressing problems related with fear and uncertainty.

 

Illness and stress amplified the spiritual concern

 In spiritual assessment, I discovered that the patient was suffering from stress due to her illnesses and she needed spiritual growth to cope up with the condition. In the discussion, the patient said that spiriruality or her religious beliefs play important role in helping her find hope, strength and comfort. For example, the patient needed visitation and prayer from a religious leader not to cure the illness but to help her cope with illness and stress (Joint Commission, 2005). This means that her condition increased the need for spiritual development. Through assessment, the patient was able to manage stress, create a meaningful life and develop values in her life. Other point noted is that spiritual assessment was helpful in managing illness and stress in that the patient developed a sense of purpose, a sense of connectedness to the higher power and created a heather life. For example, the patients believed that the higher power is only source of healing and comfort. This means that the illness motivated her in sticking to prayers and scripture in order to get comfort and hope (Joint Commission, 2005).

 

 

 

 

Reference

Anandarajah, G., & Hight, E. (2001). Spirituality and medical practice: Using the HOPE questions as a

practical tool for spiritual assessment. American Family Physician, 63(1), 89-81

Retrieved from: http://www.aafp.org/afp/2001/0101/p81.html

 

Puchalski, C., & Romer, A. (2000). Taking a spiritual history allows clinicians to understand patients more

fully. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 3(1), 129–137.

Retrieved from: http://www.med.uottawa.ca/courses/totalpain/pdf/doc-32.pdf

 

Joint Commission. (2005). Evaluating your Spiritual Assessment Process.  Joint Commission on

Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations

Retrieved from:   http://www.professionalchaplains.org/files/resources/reading_room/evaluating_your_spiritual_assessment_process.pdf

 

Koenig G. Harold. (2014). The Spiritual Care Team: Enabling the Practice of Whole Person Medicine. 5,

1161–1174; doi:10.3390/rel5041161

Retrieved from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9836/26d55ecc7288694f2c9e6bdccd61c19027c5.pdf