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Healthcare provider self-reported observations and behaviors regarding their role in the spiritual care of cancer patients

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Abstract

Purpose

The provision of spiritual care by an interprofessional healthcare team is an important, yet frequently neglected, component of patient-centered cancer care. The current study aimed to assess the relationship between individual and occupational factors of healthcare providers and their self-reported observations and behaviors regarding spiritual care in the oncologic encounter.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was administered to healthcare providers employed at a large Comprehensive Cancer Center. Pearson’s chi-square test and logistic regression were used to determine potential associations between provider factors and their observations and behaviors regarding spiritual care.

Results

Among the participants emailed, 420 followed the survey link, with 340 (80.8%) participants completing the survey. Most participants were female (82.1%) and Caucasian (82.6%) with a median age was 35 years (IQR: 31–48). Providers included nurses (64.7%), physicians (17.9%), and “other” providers (17.4%). There was a difference in provider observations about discussing patient issues around religion and spirituality (R&S). Specifically, nurses more frequently inquired about R&S (60.3%), while physicians were less likely (41.4%) (p = 0.028). Also, nurses more frequently referred to chaplaincy/clergy (71.8%), while physicians and other providers more often consulted psychology/psychiatry (62.7%, p < 0.001). Perceived barriers to not discussing R&S topics included potentially offending patients (56.5%) and time limitations (47.7%).

Conclusion

Removing extrinsic barriers and understanding intrinsic influences can improve the provision of spiritual care by healthcare providers.

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Data and code availability

The data and software code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Funding

This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA

    Elizabeth Palmer Kelly, Madison Hyer, Diamantis Tsilimigras & Timothy M. Pawlik

Authors
  1. Elizabeth Palmer Kelly
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  2. Madison Hyer
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  3. Diamantis Tsilimigras
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  4. Timothy M. Pawlik
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Elizabeth Palmer Kelly, Madison Hyer, and Tim Pawlik. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Elizabeth Palmer Kelly, Madison Hyer, Diamantis Tsilimigras, and Tim Pawlik and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Timothy M. Pawlik.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics approval

The questionnaire and methodology for this study was approved by the Human Research Ethics committee of The Ohio State University (#2019C0167).

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Participants signed an informed consent regarding publishing their data.

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Palmer Kelly, E., Hyer, M., Tsilimigras, D. et al. Healthcare provider self-reported observations and behaviors regarding their role in the spiritual care of cancer patients. Support Care Cancer 29, 4405–4412 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-020-05957-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-020-05957-1

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