Spirituality In Health And Social Care Essay

Spirituality is a broad, complex term that can be difficult to define (Stevenson & Berry 2015). People's perceptions and understanding of spirituality can vary significantly from person to person. Some may associate spirituality with connection between the body, soul and mind (Narayanasamy, 2007), while others may identify the physical environment, past times or music as part of their spirituality (Paley, 2008). In palliative care, spirituality has been identified as key component in patient care (Puchalski 2012). Patients in this setting may explore the concept of spirituality to search for understanding in their lives or to instil faith, during these difficult times (Blaber et al. 2015).
Often, spirituality is confused as being solely connected to religious beliefs (Ireland, 2010) and although the two may be interrelated for a number of people (Blaber et al. 2015), it is important to note that spirituality and religion are separate concepts (Narayanasamy, 2007). Evidence suggests that adequate spiritual care has been found to effective in the areas of self-confidence, pain management, emotional stability and improvement in the overall standard of living for the person dealing with a life limiting condition (Hematti et al. 2015).
The lack of a clear definition (Stevenson &Berry, 2015) can leave staff with little or no direction to follow in the area of spirituality. Perhaps the quality of spiritual care is compromised due to ethical concerns (Puchalski, 2012) or to the dispute between healthcare staff about who is responsible for implementing spiritual care (Abbas & Bein,