Athletic Training Student Perspectives on Spirituality and Spiritual Care in Clinical Practice: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Context Spirituality is an important component of holistic health care. While attitudes of athletic training program directors and clinicians toward spirituality are documented, the attitudes and practices of athletic training students are unknown. Objective To describe the beliefs and behaviors of athletic training students regarding spirituality and spiritual care. Design Repeated measures cohort. Setting Online survey. Patients or Other Participants All athletic training students (n = 33) enrolled in an accredited athletic training program at a private religiously affiliated university were invited to participate. The response rate was 78.8% (males = 7, females = 19, age = 20.3 ± 2.1). Intervention(s) An email invitation to complete the online survey was sent in September and April of the same academic year. The online survey included demographic data, the Spiritual Perspectives Scale (SPS), modified Spiritual Care Perspectives Scale (mSCPS), and modified Spiritual Care Therapeutics Scale (mSCTS). Main Outcome Measure(s) Level of agreement on the mSCPS items and therapeutic action frequency on the mSCTS were recorded and compared between fall and spring using paired t tests. For both scales, all item averages were organized from lowest to highest. SPS summary score was calculated. Results The mSCPS items with the highest and lowest agreement, respectively, were “Relationships with others are important to patient's spiritual health” and “Spiritual care is only for religious persons.” The mSCTS items with the highest and lowest frequencies, respectively, were “After completing a task, remained present just to show caring” and “Offered to pray with a patient.” Only 3 mSCPS items changed significantly over time, whereas 8 mSCTS items changed significantly (all P < .05). The SPS did not change over time (P = .848; fall = 4.74 ± 0.96, spring = 4.73 ± 0.87). Conclusions Athletic training students in this pilot study believe that spirituality is an important part of health care; however, athletic training students preferred items in which patients took the lead in raising spiritual issues. Therapeutic actions that support a patient's spiritual well-being without being openly religious were preferred.