Abstract
Recent increase in the number of studies on spirituality manifests growing recognition of the importance of spirituality, as well as mounting interest in studying spirituality in healthcare. Most studies on spirituality in end of life care focus on identifying specific features of spirituality and often represent an individualistic understanding of spirituality. They seldom engage in a historical–cultural exploration of the contextual meanings of those features of spirituality. This paper aims to demonstrate the absence of contextual factors in studying spirituality at the end of life and to highlight the growing recognition of the importance of history, culture and traditions as resources to enrich our understanding of spirituality. An exploration of the concept of spirituality, an overview of the trajectory of the study of spirituality and a review of existing methodological stances reveal the silent space in current approaches to understanding spirituality at the end of life. Recognition of the importance of these contextual factors in understanding spirituality is growing, which is yet to influence the conceptualization and the conduct of spirituality research. Contextual understandings of spirituality that incorporate insights from the history, culture and traditions of specific contexts can inform effective means for providing spiritual support in clinical practice.
Highlights
The study of spirituality has been gathering momentum in the past few decades
Palliative and end of life care have been active in developing research on spirituality and spiritual care, and this is the special focus of this paper
It is evident that the recognition of spirituality at the end of life, the attempts to define spirituality and spiritual care and the conceptual models developed to understand the notion of spirituality all indicate the importance of historical and cultural aspects of spirituality
Summary
Growing numbers of studies and publications on the subject indicate the increasing recognition of the importance of spirituality in various aspects of life and research interest is being generated in several academic disciplines. Medicine and healthcare is one particular field where the study of spirituality has taken hold and gained support. Researchers have employed several approaches to understanding the notion of spirituality in people with particular health conditions and how spiritual care may be provided to them. This article reviews the trajectory of the study of spirituality in the field of end of life care focusing on the existing approaches to understanding spirituality. The review illustrates the emerging recognition of the importance of culture, history and traditions in the understanding of spirituality in the study of spirituality
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