CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS article
Front. Sociol.
Sec. Medical Sociology
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2025.1523685
This article is part of the Research TopicPalliative and End of Life Care in the Post-Pandemic Era: Old Problems and New PerspectivesView all 7 articles
Type of article: Conceptual Analysis Spirituality and Palliative Care: International models and new perspectives
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
- 2Academy of Nursing, College of Medicine and Health, University of Exeter, Exeter, England, United Kingdom
- 3Department of Humanities, Philosophy, Communication, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy
- 4Oxford Centre for Education and Research in Palliative Care: Sobell House (OxCERPC), Oxford, United Kingdom
- 5Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, United Kingdom
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In recent years, healthcare organisations and scholars, particularly in Western societies, have increasingly recognised the importance of the spiritual dimension in patient care. However, this aspect still needs to be fully integrated into everyday practices. Palliative care has begun to emphasise spirituality, addressing patients' psychological and existential needs through a holistic approach beyond the traditional biomedical paradigm. This concept analysis will first explore healthcare and medical professionals' challenges in implementing shared and patientcentred spiritual practices. It will then draw on experiences integrating spirituality in palliative care from Thailand and Italy and introduce two conceptual models for spiritual care and needs assessment from the UK. The discussion will encourage the implementation of integrated models of spiritual needs assessment and care in adult end-of-life and palliative care settings (that address any life-limiting illness). This approach will enable health professionals to effectively address patients' spiritual needs, fostering authentic conversations that are pivotal in integrating models and transforming the care experience into an empowering and meaningful one for staff and patients.
Keywords: Spiritual care, end of life (EOL), Palliative Care, Spiritual competence, Religion
Received: 06 Nov 2024; Accepted: 20 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 De Luca, Sena, Butcher and de Wal (van Dijk). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Enrico De Luca, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
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