Abstract
Communication with patients regarding oncology-related aspects is a challenging experience and requires a high level of skill from the interlocutors. The aim of this study was to verify the influence of religion/spirituality in oncological settings from the health professionals’ perspectives in Poland. It assessed the role of religion/spirituality in patient-clinician communication, death or stress self-management, empathy, and breaking bad news skills. Data collection was carried out through a standardized self-administered questionnaire with varying scales. The study cohort consisted of 60 medical practitioners specializing in oncological radiotherapy treatments. It was observed that strategies used for coping with patients’ death, stress reduction, empathy, communication with patients and/or their relatives, or breaking bad news skills, may be gender-specific or may depend on the length of time employed, as well as experience in a cancer-related work environment. This study shows that spirituality and religiousness can support clinicians in managing challenging or negative emotions related to their work in cancer settings. Religiousness and spirituality can also serve as a potential therapeutic strategies for those exposed to patient suffering and death.
Highlights
Religious/spiritual (R/S) beliefs influence patients’ decisions and are correlated with better quality of life and affect psychological adjustment to challenging daily experiences among clinicians in oncology-related environments (Mishra et al, 2017; Extended author information available on the last page of the article1 3 Vol.:(0123456789)Journal of Religion and HealthPuchalski et al, 2006, 2009)
The study group (Table 1) consisted of clinical oncologists specializing in radiotherapy treatments, 73.3% of whom were women, and 26.7% of whom were men, and a majority of the study population declared living in cities over 100 000 inhabitants (86.7%)
The recent years research data have revealed that religious beliefs and spiritual practices are strongly associated with such aspects as: ability to cope with patient’s death, work-related stress reduction, empathy, communication with patients, or breaking bad news skills
Summary
Religious/spiritual (R/S) beliefs influence patients’ decisions and are correlated with better quality of life and affect psychological adjustment to challenging daily experiences among clinicians in oncology-related environments (Mishra et al, 2017; Extended author information available on the last page of the article1 3 Vol.:(0123456789)Journal of Religion and HealthPuchalski et al, 2006, 2009). 52.7% consider their spiritual or religious beliefs to determine their interactions with patients (Ecklund et al, 2007). As described above, S/R are perceived as positive factors influencing clinicians’ communication skills in oncology context (Phelps et al, 2012), such conversations are not common among professionals. This may result from the fact that spiritual or religious issues conversations are considered advanced communication skills, and such are rarely integrated into patient communication curricula (Balboni et al, 2013; Ford et al, 2012; Todres et al, 2005)
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