¿Cómo percibimos los profesionales el acompañamiento espiritual en los equipos dee Cuidados Paliativos en España?

Abstract

ObjectiveDescribe and analyze spiritual care conducted by palliative care teams in our country, from the perspective of committed professionals, and assess potential areas for improvement. Material and methodsThe SECPAL Task Force in Spiritual Care designed and sent an on-line survey to those attending the SECPAL 9th National Conference on Clinical Spirituality, held in May 2011. The questionnaire included some questions about spiritual care professionals and self-perception of the care given by the teams. ResultsThe questionnaire was answered by 191 of the 647 participants in the conference. The sample included a high percentage of women, mostly nurses and psychologists. Of those, 94.2% considered that spiritual care was part of their professional role, but only 57.6% considered themselves competent for this task. Less than half (41.9%) said they had a specific person for spiritual care on their teams, but only a 45% of them considered specifically spiritual aspects of teams. ConclusionParticipants considered that assessment and spiritual care are part of the integral care in palliative units, and pointed to important areas for improvement, both in professional training and in the care model.