Interfaith Spiritual Care: A Systematic Review

Anke I Liefbroer,Faridi S Van Etten-Jamaludin,Erik Olsman,R Ruard Ganzevoort

doi:10.1007/s10943-017-0369-1

Abstract

Although knowledge on spiritual care provision in an interfaith context is essential for addressing the diversity of patients’ religious and spiritual needs, an overview of the literature is lacking. Therefore, this article reviews the empirical literature on interfaith spiritual care (ISC) in professional caring relationships. A systematic search in electronic databases was conducted to identify empirical studies published after 2000. Twenty-two studies were included. The quality of the included studies was assessed, and their results were thematically analyzed. The majority were conducted in North America, mainly using qualitative methods and focusing on professional caregivers, who had a variety of professional and spiritual backgrounds. Two core categories were identified: (1) normativity: reasons for (not) wanting to provide ISC, in which universalist and particularist approaches were identified; and (2) capacity: reasons for (not) being able to provide ISC, which included the competences that health care professionals may need when providing ISC, as well as contextual possibilities and restraints. This systematic review identifies gaps in the literature and indicates that future studies have to explore patient perspectives on ISC.

Highlights

Over the past decades, the religious and spiritual landscape in Western societies has been transforming rapidly because of processes such as subjectivization, individualization, secularization, globalization, and pluralization (Woodhead et al 2016)
Eighteen of the twenty-two included studies had been conducted in the USA or Canada, and most studies had been conducted in health care settings, whereas a few had been conducted in other settings, like prison or university
This review provides an overview of twenty-two empirical studies on interfaith spiritual care (ISC) in a professional caring relationship, suggesting that there are two categories involved in ISC: normativity and capacity

Summary

Introduction

The religious and spiritual landscape in Western societies has been transforming rapidly because of processes such as subjectivization, individualization, secularization, globalization, and pluralization (Woodhead et al 2016). Some have provided practical guidelines and recommendations for health care professionals, other than chaplains, on spiritual care for patients of diverse religious traditions (Miklancie 2007; Richards and Bergin 2014; Walsh 2010), and others have plead for an ‘‘inter-’’ or ‘‘multifaith’’ model of spiritual care for spiritual care providers or chaplains (Gatrad et al 2003, 2004; Schipani and Bueckert 2009) In these discussions, the distinction is often made between an ‘‘interfaith,’’ ‘‘generic,’’ or ‘‘multifaith’’ approach and a ‘‘faith-specific’’ approach. This implies, for example, an Islamic spiritual caregiver and a Christian patient, but it may imply a situation wherein one has an explicit religious or spiritual orientation and the other has not, such as a Catholic nurse caring for an agnostic patient

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