Richard Egan, Rod MacLeod, Chrystal
Jaye, Rob McGee, Joanne Baxter, Peter Herbison, Sarah Wood
The authors report the results of a project to investigate people's understanding of
spirituality and spiritual care practices in New Zealand hospices. Participants included patients, family members and staff. They found that spirituality is
broadly understood and considered important for all three of the populations
studied. The patient and family populations had high spiritual needs that
included a search for meaning, peace of mind, and a degree of
certainty in an uncertain world. The healthcare professionals in the hospices
surveyed seldom explicitly met the needs of patients and families. Staff had
spiritual needs, but organizational support was sometimes lacking in attending
to these needs.
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