Spiritual Care in Palliative Care

Associate Professor Megan C Best is a Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics and Society at the University of Notre Dame Australia, and an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Sydney Medical School. She is Director of Ethicentre and a member of the European Association of Palliative Care Spiritual Care Reference Group and the international Joint Research Council for chaplaincy research.She has over 30 years’ experience as a palliative care physician, medical ethicist and researcher. She developed her interest in spirituality in healthcare when she observed the importance of meaning-making for her patients at the end of life. Her research on the spiritual care of patients has influenced the development of training for healthcare professionals internationally and she runs a comprehensive research program focusing on ways to develop whole person care at the end of life.

• Foreword.- Preface.- Part 1: Introduction.- 1. What is spirituality.- 2. The spiritual experience of dying.- 3. Spiritual needs in palliative care patients.- 4. Dreams and visions.- 5. Deathbed visions and the moment of death.- Part 2: Diversity.- 6. The role of religious beliefs.- 7. Maori spiritual care during COVID-19 lockdowns.- 8. Muslim patients.- 9. Spiritual Care for Buddhist Patients in Taiwan.- 10. Spititual aspects of end of life care for Christian patients.- 11. Spiritual care in Palliative Care: Hinduism perspective.- 12. Judaism.- 13. Clinical Practice of Spiritual Care by Nurses for Non-Religious Patients: A Japanese Perspective.- Part 3: Impact.- 14. Impact of Spiritual Care on Patient Outcomes at the End of Life .- 15. Spirituality and pain control.- 16. Spirituality and mental health.- Part 4: Practice.- 17. Assessment of spirituality.- 18. Spiritual care therapeuticsat the end of life.- 19. Barriers to spiritual care.- 20. Reaching spiritual realms through music in serious illness care.- 21. The place of Ritual in Spiritual Care.- 22. The role of spiritual care in palliative care during a pandemic.- 23. Public Health approaches to spiritual care.- Part 5: Suffering.- 24. Existential distress at the end of life.- 25. Demoralisation.- 26. Desire for hastened death.- 27. The existential dimension of loss and grief.- 28. Prevention and treatment of suffering through mindfulness.- Part 6: Training .- 29. Interprofessional spiritual care education and training for palliative care.- 30. The role of the doctor.- 31. The role of the nurse.- 32. The role of the chaplain.- 33. The Role of Social Worker.- 34. Cultural safety in palliative care.- 35. Compassion.- 36. Self-care for staff.- Part 7: Special Groups.- 37. Spiritual care in neonatal palliative care.- 38. Caring Spiritually for Children in Palliative Care – both when they are relatives of dying family members or terminally ill themselves.- 39. Spirituality for young adults.- 40. Family carers.- 41. Spiritual care of the elderly.- 42. People living with dementia.- 43. The bereaved.- Part 8: Policy.- 44. Ethics of spiritual care.- 45. Introduction of national guidelines for multi-professional spiritual care in PC.- 46. Organizational and Leadership Factors for Spiritual Care Implementation.