Abstract
BackgroundThe spiritual aspect of care is an often neglected resource in pain therapies. The aim of this study is to identify commonalities and differences in chronic pain patients’ (CPP) and health care professionals’ (HCP) perceptions on the integration of spiritual care into multimodal pain therapy.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative exploratory study with 42 CPPs and 34 HCPs who were interviewed in 12 separate groups in five study centres specialising in chronic pain within German-speaking Switzerland. The interviews were transcribed and subjected to a qualitative content analysis. Findings were generated by juxtaposing and analysing the statements of (a) HCP about HCP, (b) HCP about CPP, (c) CPP about HCP, and (d) CPP about CPP.ResultsViews on spiritual concerns and needs in chronic pain care can be described in three distinct dimensions: function (evaluating the need / request to discuss spiritual issues), structure (evaluating when / how to discuss spiritual issues) and context (evaluating why / under which circumstances to discuss spiritual issues). CPPs stress the importance of HCPs recognizing their overall human integrity, including the spiritual dimension, and would like to grant spiritual concerns greater significance in their therapy. HCPs express difficulties in addressing and discussing spiritual concerns and needs with chronic pain patients. Both parties want clarification of the context in which the spiritual dimension could be integrated into treatment. They see a need for greater awareness and training of HCPs in how the spiritual dimension in therapeutic interactions might be addressed.ConclusionsAlthough there are similarities in the perspectives of HCPs and CPPs regarding spiritual concerns and needs in chronic pain care, there are relevant differences between the two groups. This might contribute to the neglect of the spiritual dimension in the treatment of chronic pain.Trial registrationThis study was part of a larger research project, registered in a primary (clinicaltrial.gov: NCT03679871) and local (kofam.ch: SNCTP000003086) clinical trial registry.
Highlights
The spiritual aspect of care is an often neglected resource in pain therapies
Function > Deontic aspects: evaluating the need to discuss spiritual issues health care professionals’ (HCP) tend to assume that chronic pain patients’ (CPP) expect mechanistic and scientific solutions and want to be „repaired “as quickly as possible
This divergence in weighting the importance of talking about spiritual issues was partly responsible for the general disappointment that CPPs reported from their contact with HCPs
Summary
The spiritual aspect of care is an often neglected resource in pain therapies. The aim of this study is to identify commonalities and differences in chronic pain patients’ (CPP) and health care professionals’ (HCP) perceptions on the integration of spiritual care into multimodal pain therapy. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a health care model that explicitly acknowledges the spiritual aspects of care in addition to prevalent physical, psychological, and social dimensions [8] Despite this long-standing counsel, spiritual concerns appear to be a rarely accessed element in current multimodal pain therapies [9]. This may be due in part to HCPs’ discomfiture with this potential resource [10], and CPPs’ lack of awareness that spiritual matters can be an integral part of health care. Effective chronic pain therapy requires an acknowledgement of individual preferences as well as active commitment by HCPs and CPPs working together at eye level This entails integrating the spiritual dimension into pain therapy.
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