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Saturday, January 11, 2014

EAPC Taskforce on Spiritual Care in Palliative Care

The EAPC Taskforce on Spiritual Care in Palliative Care will help developing spiritual care in an European context. We are deeply convinced that we can learn much from each other and achieve great things in an open minded atmosphere. We intend to contribute using experience in discussing and building bridges where delicate end-of-life issues in secular and/or multi-cultural society divide people.

EAPC survey on spiritual care research priorities

In 2012 the EAPC Spiritual Care Taskforce conducted an online survey of palliative care practitioners’ and researchers’ priorities for spiritual care research. No less than 971 people from 87 countries participated – a fantastic response. Many thanks if you took the time to complete the survey.

Countries that participate in the Taskforce Spiritual Care


EAPC taskforce on Spiritual Care in Palliative Care

Summary
The WHO definition of palliative care includes taking care of the spiritual (care) needs of patients. It is essential that the spiritual (care) needs of patients, family and carers in all settings are adequately met. These is much discussion about the definition of spirituality. Based on the 2009 Consensus Conference in the US, at the invited conference in October 2010 this taskforce has agreed upon the following working definition and comment:
Spirituality is the dynamic dimension of human life that relates to the way persons (individual and community) experience, express and/or seek meaning, purpose and transcendence, and the way they connect to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, to the significant and/or the sacred.
The spiritual field is multidimensional:

  1. Existential challenges (e.g. questions concerning identity, meaning, suffering and death, guilt and shame, reconciliation and forgiveness, freedom and responsibility, hope and despair, love and joy).
  2. Value based considerations and attitudes (what is most important for each person, such as relations to oneself, family, friends, work, things nature, art and culture, ethics and morals, and life itself).
  3. Religious considerations and foundations (faith, beliefs and practices, the relationship with God or the ultimate).

Aims & objectives

The mission of the Taskforce is to encourage all members of the EAPC to support spiritual care in palliative care through:
  • Recognition
  • Research
  • Education
  • Implementation
  • Funding/resources
Short term aims and objectives: 2011-2013
1. Recognition
- To promote representation of the SC dimension in the EAPC board
- To write articles about SC and aim to have these accepted in leading journals
- To encourage regional and national meetings on spiritual care in palliative care (SCPC)
- To bring healthcare workers physicians, nurses, social workers, etc.) and faith leaders/chaplains/spiritual workers in contact within programs to build mutual understanding on the role of each other in SCPC
- To activate national forums for chaplains and clergy on multidisciplinary SCPC
- To promote awareness of the spiritual needs in the medical and religious worlds.

2. Research
- To continue to facilitate networking and collaboration between clinicians and researchers interested in SCPC through:

- Making an inventory of current, recent and imminent research on SCPC in EU and identify gaps in current research
- Present findings at EAPC congress 2015
- Potentially host the inventory on the EAPC website

- To identify and evaluate existing SCPC guidelines (using ‘AGREE’ evaluation instrument)
- To continue to work on the theoretical basis/framework of SCPC research and publish a white paper on this
- To educate and support chaplains as researchers of SCPC

3. Education
- Making an online inventory of available courses and training programs
- Creating a curriculum which can be adapted for education purposes by different settings


- Writing a white paper on core competencies in spiritual care for different disciplines
- Having a one week working conference in order to build an interdisciplinary network and develop the curriculum
4. Implementation
- Continue the series of papers on SCPC in specific countries in the EJPC.
- Conducting a survey exploring existing practices of spiritual care and related activities/services to obtain detailed data on the current situation across Europe (and hopefully also beyond Europe).

5. Funding/resources
- To make a further inventory of possible funding and resources and connect with relevant organisations.

Milestones

2010 April: The Taskforce was established 2010 October 15-17: Invited conference The Netherlands, to set Aims and Objectives 2011 May 18-22: EAPC Conference Lisbon, Portugal, Final set-up of the Taskforce
Achieved since 2011
  • A European network of researchers in Spiritual Care in Palliative Care (SCPC) has been built:
    • meetings at the EAPC congresses
    • in October 2012, the Halley Stewart Trust Symposium on SCPC at King’s College London
    • International Consensus Conference on spiritual care held in Geneva in January 2013
  • PC clinicians’ and researchers’ priorities for research in SCPC have been established:
    To form an evidence base to take forward spiritual care research in Europe, a survey was conducted by Teresa Young, Lucy Selman and Mieke Vermandere and others on behalf of the research sub-group. The results were presented at the EAPC congress in Prague in 2013 and the publication reporting findings is currently under review at Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.
  • Translation of spiritual care guidelines:
    The Dutch guideline on Spiritual Care has been translated into English and is available link. We are working on a translation into German.
  • Promotion of methodology in spiritual care research at EAPC congress:
    Dr Lucy Selman and Rev Rd Peter Speck ran a workshop on measurement in spiritual care practice and research at the EAPC congress in 2013 in Prague. Prof Carlo Leget presented on research paradigms.
  • Series of papers in the EJPC on the current state of affairs in various countries.

Future

2014 EAPC congress Lleida 5-7 June: closed session of the active members planned on 5 June 2015 EAPC congress Copenhagen Denmark

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