Chapitre 6. Besoins spirituels des patients en fin de vie à domicile, à propos d'une étude qualitative auprès de 13 patients

Abstract

Within the framework of overall care of palliative patients, the notion of spiritual needs has emerged in medical literature over the last twenty years. In the particular context of the palliative home care network, this study focuses on 13 patients at the end of life with the objective of describing their spiritual needs. It is an exploratory and qualitative study, based on the analysis of semi-directive interviews with patients. From a redefinition of the relationship with time, stem several themes: reinterpretation of life, search for meaning, densification of the connection to the world, to loved ones and to oneself control, vital energy, ambivalence to the future, confrontation with death, relationship to transcendence... The results confirm the existence in the study group of spiritual needs as described in literature and highlights certain particular aspects, including some linked to home care. They provide an illustration of the vision of man, asserted by the patients themselves, encompassing identity, relationships and communication, dignity, unity of the person, openness beyond the self and life force. The ethical notion of relationships in the framework of spiritual accompaniment at the end of life is developed.