Spiritual care - 'A deeper immunity' - A response to Covid-19 pandemic.

Nicolette V. Roman,Thuli G. Mthembu,Mujeeb Hoosen

doi:10.4102/phcfm.v12i1.2456

Nicolette V. Roman, Thuli G. Mthembu + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4102/phcfm.v12i1.2456

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Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has presented unprecedented health challenges across all strata in society throughout the world. The COVID experience has caused us to reflect on quality of life, health and well-being and, just as important, end of life. During this time, spiritual care forms a vital component of holistic health management, especially in terms of coping, coming to terms with illness, suffering and ultimately death. The relationship with the transcendent or sacred has a strong influence on a people’s beliefs, attitudes, emotions and behaviour. Populations, communities, families and individuals have always found solace through their religious or philosophical beliefs during times of personal adversity and widespread anxiety or disaster. Although spiritual care has always been a part of the domain of religious beliefs, a more contemporary perspective is that spiritual care forms part of the human psyche and thus forms part of human care, health and well-being for families, patients and healthcare workers. Spiritual care deals with the provision of compassion and empathy during periods of heightened stress, distress and anxiety within care. This article provides insights into the necessity of providing spiritual care as a means of coping and well-being for families, patients and healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights

Spirituality is a foundation of all population groups since the beginning of recorded history. It plays an integral component of quality of life, health and well-being both in the general population and those affected by illnesses.[1]
Spirituality practices have been recognised as a powerful coping mechanism for dealing with life-changing and traumatic events.[1]. During this global pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), does spiritual care contribute as a coping strategy for practitioners and families?
Under the current circumstances, healthcare professionals should be extra-sensitive to the spiritual needs of their patients and their own, as studies have reported that patients’ reliance on spirituality increases during life-changing events.[6,8]. This may be problematic as research indicates that whilst many health professionals agree that spiritual care is important for their patients, many are ill-equipped to deal with this aspect.[14]