Bienestar emocional y espiritualidad al final de la vida

Abstract

ObjectiveThe study of the physical, social, psychological and spiritual needs of the patient is a key element in the decreasing of suffering within the palliative care framework. Material and methodsFrom the anthropological model proposed by the SECPAL Spirituality Group, and using a new measurement tool developed to assess the spirituality within three levels: intrapersonal (meaning), interpersonal (membership), and transpersonal (harmony), the resources and spiritual needs, together with the relationships between this spirituality and the emotional functioning, including anxiety, depression and resilience. The research is based on a sample of 121 palliative care patients, distributed throughout the country. Several descriptive analyses have been developed for this purpose. Pearson's correlations and a structural equations model with a factor and six observable variables, a technique which offers a multivariate framework to evaluate the results. ResultsThe results showed values in emotional well-being similar to findings in other studies, with statistically significant correlations between spirituality, depression, anxiety and resilience. The data fit the model properly, indicating high predictive power of the spirituality level on depression and anxiety, in a negative way, and a positive relationship between spirituality and resilience. ConclusionsConclusions show that these results are similar to those in previously published studies, providing evidence on the importance of spirituality for the emotional well-being of the patient.