Developing a spiritual care training program for the multidisciplinary team
Kate Jones1 1University Of Notre Dame Australia, Broadway, NSW, Australia
Abstract
Background: Spirituality encompasses relationship to self, others, nature, or a higher power, and can be expressed in a range of ways. It should be distinguished from religion, which is a subset of the universal human dimension of spirituality. In healthcare, spiritual wellbeing is linked to many positive patient outcomes. Despite the potential importance of spiritual wellbeing, staff often lack confidence to provide spiritual care to patients. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a spiritual care training program to increase confidence and competency for all members of the multidisciplinary team in relation to spiritual care.
Methods: Participants were nursing, allied health, managerial and administration staff recruited from five health and aged care teams at St Vincent’s Health Australia. The training was facilitated by pastoral care practitioners and consisted of four online or in-person sessions of 30-60 minutes each. Sessions included didactic teaching, case studies, patient videos, personal reflection and discussion. Evaluation surveys measuring spiritual care perspectives, competency, confidence and personal spiritual well-being were administered before and after the training, and satisfaction data was collected.
Results: A total of 44 participants received the training. Statistically significant increases in competency, confidence and spiritual well-being were observed after the training. Participant satisfaction levels were high, though several participants requested more time be allocated for the training.
Outcomes/Implications: This study’s findings show that spiritual care training is well received by staff and can contribute to greater levels of perceived confidence and competency.
Biography
Dr Kate Jones is a clinical social worker and researcher. Kate has worked as a social worker for 16 years in the fields of spinal cord injury rehabilitation and mental health. In 2017 she conducted a PhD to investigate the contribution of spirituality towards family resilience after SCI. Together with her colleagues she has developed and evaluated two manualised spiritual care training programs, one for rehabilitation professionals and another for all staff at a general hospital. Kate has published over 20 studies in the areas of spirituality, resilience and healthcare.