Spiritual Assessment

Introduction

Religion and science are often considered topics that are at odds with each other. However, the combination of spirituality and health care can lead to optimal treatment results for patients. Medical problems can be difficult for individuals to endure. Many individuals during a health crisis turn to their spiritual beliefs for comfort. “Studies have shown that patients consider their spiritual health and physical health equally important and desire to have their physicians inquire about their spiritual needs.” (Oakley, Katz, Sauer, Dent, & Millar, 2010, p. 45). Therefore, physicians must be comfortable with inquiring about a patient’s needs. The field of healthcare has to work towards incorporating spirituality in their assessment tools in order to provide more holistic care based on faith diversity to its clients. 

Spiritual assessments can be valuable tools in determining the spiritual beliefs of an individual and whether their beliefs can guide treatment. A sample assessment tool will be discussed which was administered on a child. Completing the assessment on a child is important as children can often be excluded from discussions of spirituality due to beliefs that they are incapable of understanding spirituality. “Children are born with “spiritual competence,” an inner quality or power for faith development” (Mueller, 2010, p. 197). However, this is not the case and the assessment that was completed of the child demonstrates their spirituality. The results and discussion of the assessment will be donated to determine the benefits of the spiritual assessment tools. 

Spiritual Assessment Tool

The spiritual assessment tool that was utilized was the FAITH model. “Interest in the relationship between spirituality and health has led to increased research on spirituality within nursing and other healthcare disciplines” (Griffin & Yancey, 2009, p. 875) As more research is conducted various models have been developed to assess spiritual believes. However, this model was utilized as the questions were simple enough to be able to ask a child while also being able to capture the complex nature of spiritual beliefs. The following questions and answers were provided by the interviewee:

Interview

Question 1: Do you have a religion that you believe in?

Response: I am a Christian and I believe in Jesus. My whole family is Christian, and we will all go to heaven. 

Question 2: Do your religious beliefs apply to your views of health?

Response: I think that Jesus wants everyone to be healthy and will heal the sick people. 

Questions 3:  Do you go to church or attend religious events?

Response: My family goes to church every Sunday. I like to go to Sunday school and spend time with my friends. We have lots of events that we can attend at our church. 

Question 4: Do your religious views affect your views treatment?

Response: I think that if a sick person prays, they will get better because Jesus will help them.

Question 5: How can your doctor help with your spiritual concerns?

Response: I think the doctor should pray with their patients so that they can get better faster.

Analysis

The interview went well as the patient was willing and open to speak about her religious beliefs. It was confirmed that everyone has their own beliefs and religious experiences. She appeared to be aware of and knowledgeable about her beliefs. She was also not shy about speaking with an adult. In the future I might have made some changes so that the interview flowed smoothly. The questions needed to be explained to the interviewee before she understood the specific question. I would have also included her mother in the assessment as she may have been able to clarify some of her responses. Some other challenges with the assessment tool was that some of the questions were similar so that the interviewee had the same responses several times and needed to be asked follow up questions for clarification. The child was also bored quickly with having to answer similar questions. Had the assessment been completed in a hospital setting the results may have been different as the interviewee may be going through treatment which might make them too tired to be interviewed. Or she may have been excited to complete the interview as she may have been bored in the hospital setting, There would have also been more interruptions in the form of nurses or doctors. The experience of using the tool with a child was interesting as I did not realize how much a child understood about their spiritual beliefs. 

Conclusion

Children are often excluded from serious discussions surrounding health, death or religion in order to protect them. However, children tend to be more aware of their environment then they may let on. This is more so the case of children who are in treatment for medical conditions. These children are often confused about why they are sick, and religion can provide support. Spiritual assessment tools can provide insight as to how to help individuals who are going through the healing process. “Spirituality encompasses both a subjective side, which resides in free will and understanding of the person experiencing it, and an objective side, which is the person’s actual experience.” (Skalla & McCoy, 2006, p. 745). By incorporating the spiritual assessment as part of the initial intake paperwork of a patient, physicians have a guide which they can utilize in not only building a rapport with their patients but also during periods of time when they may be struggling with their treatment. This could be invaluable for a patient who is struggling with their health.

References

Griffin, A. T., & Yancey, V. (2009). Spiritual dimensions of the perioperative experience. AORN Journal, 89(5), 875-882.

Mueller, C. R. (2010). Spirituality in children: understanding and developing interventions. Pediatric Nursing, 36(4), 197.

Oakley, E., Katz, G., Sauer, K., Dent, B., & Millar, A. L. (2010). Physical Therapists' Perception on Spirituality and Patient Care: Beliefs, Practices, and Perceived Barriers. Journal, Physical Therapy Education, 24(2), 45.

Skalla, K. A., & McCoy, J. P. (2006). Spiritual assessment of patients with cancer: The moral authority, vocational, aesthetic, social, and transcendent model. In Oncology Nursing Forum 89(5), 875-882.