Spirituality in Palliative Patients: A literature Review

Abstract

Introduction : Spirituality is important for palliative patients. Studies on spirituality in palliative patients were found differently in terms of the importance and the assessment. The purpose of the study : To describe the importance of spirituality and identify the most appropriate tool for spirituality assessment used in palliative patients. Methodology : Searching were conducted from PubMed and ProQuest during 2005-2014. A total 15 studies were analyzed for this review. Result : Spirituality was important for palliative patients in reducing distress, anxiety, depression and also improving quality of life. There were numerous measurements have been used to measure spirituality in palliative patients which showed good psychometric properties and can be used in multicultural palliative patients population such as MQOL, QUAL-E and POS. Conclusion : Spirituality was reported having a pivotal role for palliative patients. The 8-items of GES as a new measurement seems have a feasible and valid in measuring spirituality for palliative patients. However, the measurement still requires further testing. Keywords : spirituality, palliative patients, assessment tool