Spiritual Resources of Family Members of Patients in Palliative Care in Brazil

Although religiosity is a strong feature of Brazilian people, the integration of spirituality in palliative care (PC) has been a challenge for health care professionals. In order to evaluate the spiritual resources used by family members of patients in PC, this work presents the results of the research carried out with 50 family members. The Satisfaction with Life Scale, Centrality of Religiosity Scale, Spiritual/Religious Coping Scale, Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale and Attachment to God Inventory were applied. The prevalence of positive spiritual/religious coping was very high (76%) or high (6%). There was a strong correlation between positive spiritual/religious coping and centrality of religiosity (r=.805; SD=.87). There was a moderate negative correlation between the avoidant attachment to God and centrality of religiosity (r=-.611; SD=1.24) and positive spiritual/religious coping (r=-.575; SD=1.37). There was a moderate positive correlation between the anxious attachment to God and spiritual struggles (r=.515; SD=.76) and negative spiritual/religious coping (r=.555; SD=.616). These results suggest that spiritual/religious resources are present in family members of patients in PC. These resources have been mostly ignored by the multidisciplinary team. Findings provide an evidence base for training health care professionals to better integrate spirituality in PC settings.

尽管宗教信仰是巴西民众的显著特征之一，但将精神关怀整合至姑息治疗（palliative care, PC）领域，始终是医疗从业人员面临的一大挑战。为评估姑息治疗患者家属所使用的精神支持资源，本研究针对50名患者家属开展调研并呈现其结果。本研究采用生活满意度量表、宗教信仰中心性量表、精神/宗教应对量表、宗教与精神困境量表及上帝依恋量表对受试者进行施测。研究结果显示，积极型精神/宗教应对的比例极高：76%为高水平，6%为较高水平。积极型精神/宗教应对与宗教信仰中心性呈强正相关（r=0.805；SD=0.87）。回避型上帝依恋与宗教信仰中心性（r=-0.611；SD=1.24）及积极型精神/宗教应对（r=-0.575；SD=1.37）均呈中度负相关。焦虑型上帝依恋与精神困境（r=0.515；SD=0.76）及消极型精神/宗教应对（r=0.555；SD=0.616）呈中度正相关。上述结果表明，姑息治疗患者家属普遍拥有精神/宗教支持资源，但此类资源大多未被多学科团队重视。本研究结果可为医疗从业人员开展针对性培训提供循证依据，以推动精神关怀更好地融入姑息治疗实践。