Interprofessional spiritual care in oncology: a literature review

Spiritual care is recognised as an essential element of the care of patients with serious illness such as cancer. Spiritual distress can result in poorer health outcomes including quality of life. The American Society of Clinical Oncology and other organisations recommend addressing spiritual needs in the clinical setting. This paper reviews the literature findings and proposes recommendations for interprofessional spiritual care

De gouden jaren? Over oud worden en zinvol leven

status: publishe

Maria en de kracht van de verbeelding. Een reflectie op herkenning en vervreemding.

In this contribution we have been critical of images that alienate Mary from believers. Often she was represented through images that confirmed the existing balance of power and relationship patterns. At the same time there have always been faithful women who were inspired by Mary’s strength and by her expression of God’s dream about this world. By formulating critical reservations about a number of images that were made of Mary and by indicating that we cannot do without images, we hope to give the initial impetus to new images or to a new interpretation of the existing ones. We advocate images that offer recognition and inspiration and lead people on the path to recognize God in themselves and to pass on God’s love, following Mary. Theology has the task to continue to stimulate the imagination and to correct its course on the basis of the criterion that each image must contribute to the flourishing of faith. Mary, the woman who became the mother of Jesus called the Christ, cannot be grasped in one image. The popular devotion speaks of her in ‘thousand names’. Rita Ghesquiere refers in her posthumous book with the title ‘A Thousand Names’ to Paul Claudel who describes Mary as ‘Dieu caché dans la femme’. Mary has found and communicated God’s presence and love within herself. In that sense she is an inspiration for every believer today and par excellence for the entire church community. Mary, however, exceeds the limits of Christianity. Because of her place in Judaism and Islam she is an inspiration in interreligious dialogue and through her Jewish, Muslim and Christian women and men can recognize themselves in their search for God.status: publishe

Coronapandemie zet aan tot creatieve spirituele zorg bij sterven en overlijden

status: Published onlin

Spiritual Needs of Older Adults during Hospitalization: An Integrative Review

A hospital admission presents various challenges for a patient which often result in high or intense spiritual needs. To provide the best possible care for older adults during hospitalization, it is essential to assess patients’ spiritual needs. However, little research has been done into the spiritual needs of geriatric patients. This article seeks insight into what is known in the literature on the spiritual needs of geriatric patients. This integrative review presents a summary of the articles on this topic. To select eligible studies, the PRISMA Flow Diagram was used. This resulted in ten articles that have been reviewed. Results show (1) a wide interest in researching spiritual needs, using different research designs. In addition, (2) four subcategories of spiritual needs can be distinguished: (a) the need to be connected with others or with God/the transcendent/the divine, (b) religious needs, (c) the need to find meaning in life, and (d) the need to maintain one’s identity. Moreover, results show that (3) assessing spiritual needs is required to provide the best possible spiritual care, and that (4) there are four reasons for unmet spiritual needs. Further research is needed on the definition of spiritual needs and to investigate older patients’ spiritual needs and the relation with their well-being, mental health and religious coping mechanisms, in order to provide the best spiritual care

Interprofessional Spiritual Care in Oncology: a Literature Review

Spiritual care is recognised as an essential element of the care of patients with serious illness such as cancer. Spiritual distress can result in poorer health outcomes including quality of life. The American Society of Clinical Oncology and other organisations recommend addressing spiritual needs in the clinical setting. This paper reviews the literature findings and proposes recommendations for interprofessional spiritual care.status: Published onlin

Interprofessional spiritual care in oncology: a literature review.

Spiritual care is recognised as an essential element of the care of patients with serious illness such as cancer. Spiritual distress can result in poorer health outcomes including quality of life. The American Society of Clinical Oncology and other organisations recommend addressing spiritual needs in the clinical setting. This paper reviews the literature findings and proposes recommendations for interprofessional spiritual care