The spiritual environment in New Zealand hospice care: identifying organisational commitment to spiritual care.
OBJECTIVE
Spiritual matters naturally arise in many people who have either a serious illness or are nearing end-of-life. The literature shows many examples of spiritual assessments, interventions and care; however, there is a lack of focus on organisational support for spiritual care. We aimed to ascertain the structural and operational capacity of New Zealand's hospices to attend to the spiritual needs and concerns of patients, families and staff.


METHODS
As part of a larger study, a mail out cross-sectional survey was distributed to 25 New Zealand hospices and asked details from staff about facilities, practices and organisational aspects of spiritual care. Data were collated by creating a 'hospice setting spiritual score' based on an aggregate of eight items from the survey.


RESULTS
There was a 66% response rate. Summary scores ranged from 2 to 7 indicating that while sites delivered a range of spiritual services, all could improve the level of spiritual care they provide. The two most common items missing were 'spiritual professional development' and 'formal spiritual assessment.'


CONCLUSIONS
This simple setting spiritual score provides a snapshot of a hospice's commitment to spiritual care. It could be used as a preliminary auditing tool to assist hospices in identifying organisational and operational aspects that could be improved to enhance spiritual care delivery.
Cancer Society Social & Behavioural Research Unit, Te Hunga Rangahau Arai Mate Pukupuku, Department of Preventive & Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Medical School, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Richard
R
Egan
HammondCare and Northern Clinical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Rod
R
MacLeod
Department of General Practice and Rural Health, Dunedin School of Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Chrystal
C
Jaye
Department of Preventive & Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Rob
R
McGee
Health Sciences Division, Māori Health Workforce Development Unit, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Joanne
J
Baxter
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Peter
P
Herbison
D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D029181:Spirituality; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology*
Hospice care; palliative care; spirituality