Physician's perspectives on addressing patients' spiritual needs

An integral element of well-being for patients experiencing illness is their spirituality. Furthermore, large majorities of patients experiencing serious illnesses have spiritual needs. Due to the critical role of spirituality in illness, spiritual care (SC)-recognition of patient spirituality and addressing spiritual needs within care-has been integrated into national and international quality guidelines. When spiritual care is present, patients experience better quality of life, greater transitions to hospice care, and higher satisfaction with medical care. However, SC provision to patients and families remains limited, particularly from physicians. Prior studies suggest that only roughly one-quarter of seriously ill patients receive SC from their medical providers, highlighting a gap between guidelines and current practice. Chief among a variety of barriers to SC from physicians is the fact that only 12-20% of providers have received SC training.