title: Spiritual support for adolescent cancer patients: a survey of pediatric oncology centers in Italy and Spain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Spirituality is a fundamental aspect of the psychological well-being of adolescents with cancer. This study reports on a survey conducted at pediatric oncology centers in Italy and Spain to examine the situation concerning the provision of spiritual support.
  
  
  METHODS
  An ad hoc questionnaire was distributed including multiple-choice questions on whether or not spiritual support was available; the spiritual counselor's role; how often the spiritual counselor visited the unit; and the type of training this person had received.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A spiritual support service was available at 24 of the 26 responding centers in Italy and 34/36 in Spain. The training received by the spiritual counselor was exclusively theological in most cases (with medical or psychological training in a few cases). In both countries the spiritual counselor was mainly involved in providing religious services and support at the terminal stage of the disease or in talking with patients and families. Cooperation with caregivers was reported by 27.3% and 46.7% of the Italian and Spanish centers, respectively, while the daily presence of the chaplain on the ward was reported by 18.2% and 26.7%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The role of the spiritual counselor in pediatric oncology - in Italy and Spain at least - is still neither well-established nor based on standardized operating methods or training requirements. A model that implies the constant presence of a spiritual counselor in hospital wards may be proposed to provide appropriate spiritual support to adolescents with cancer.
authors.affiliation: Pastoral Care Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Tullio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Proserpio
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Veneroni
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department, Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesús, Madrid - Spain.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lassaletta
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department, Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesús, Madrid - Spain.
authors.forename: Rosalia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lorenzo
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Magni
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Onco-Hematology, Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Division, Regina Margherita Children's Hospital, Turin - Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bertolotti
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Onco-Hematology, Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Division, Regina Margherita Children's Hospital, Turin - Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barisone
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Radiotherapy Unit, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Aviano (Pordenone) - Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mascarin
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department and Tettamanti Research Center, Milano-Bicocca University, "Fondazione MBBM", San Gerardo Hospital, Monza - Italy.
authors.forename: Momcilo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jankovic
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, G. Di Cristina Children's Hospital, Palermo - Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: D'Angelo
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology and Hematology, University of Study of Milan, Milan - Italy.|Clinical Psychology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Clerici
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department, Hospital Infantil Universitario Gregorio Marañon, Madrid - Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garrido-Colino
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Department, Virgen del Rocio Hospital, Sevilla - Spain.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gutierrez-Carrasco
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department, Hospital de Cruces, Bilbao - Spain.
authors.forename: Aizpea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Echebarria
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department and Tettamanti Research Center, Milano-Bicocca University, "Fondazione MBBM", San Gerardo Hospital, Monza - Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Biondi
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Maura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Massimino
authors.affiliation: Department of Woman, Children and General and Specialized Surgery, Second University of Naples, Naples - Italy.
authors.forename: Fiorina
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Casale
authors.affiliation: Ospedale Meyer/Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Careggi, Florence - Italy.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamburini
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan - Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrari
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D062486:Public Health Surveillance; D012944:Social Support; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D026443:Spiritual Therapies; D029181:Spirituality