Spiritual Care in Palliative Care

An international panel of experts have contributed to create the first comprehensive guide to spiritual care focussing on the palliative care setting from neonatal to aged care, combining the theoretical underpinnings of spirituality research with practical applications for its introduction into patient care. This book is structured to give a detailed understanding of the importance of spirituality for patients approaching the end of life as well as the impact of spiritual care on patients, families and carers. As the first step towards reaching this goal, the need for spiritual care training of clinicians is outlined, including the crucial step of nurturing one’s own spiritual life. Ways to identify and assess patients’ spiritual needs are explained. The experience of existential suffering is explored along with discussion of the ways it can manifest and how it can be addressed. The implementation of spiritual care in the clinical setting is detailed with illustrations of the roleof each member of the palliative care team and the benefits of an institutional approach.This valuable resource provides not only empirical evidence for the importance of spiritual care but also practical guidance for those wishing to practice it. It is ideal for all those caring for patients of all ages at the end of life, including palliative care clinicians, spiritual care professionals, students and researchers, and anyone interested in creating meaning in the face of imminent death.

Associate Professor Megan C Best is a Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics and Society at the University of Notre Dame Australia, and an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Sydney Medical School. She is Director of Ethicentre and a member of the European Association of Palliative Care Spiritual Care Reference Group and the international Joint Research Council for chaplaincy research.She has over 30 years’ experience as a palliative care physician, medical ethicist and researcher. She developed her interest in spirituality in healthcare when she observed the importance of meaning-making for her patients at the end of life. Her research on the spiritual care of patients has influenced the development of training for healthcare professionals internationally and she runs a comprehensive research program focusing on ways to develop whole person care at the end of life.