Spiritual Needs Assessment

Spiritual Needs Assessment of Patients by: (student’s name) (course) (date of submission)Spiritual Needs Assessment of the Patient In providing basic health care in hospitals, medical practitioners should not only focus on giving physical treatment to patients but also provide spiritual and psychological assessment and management for them. This practice as suggested by many studies (see Chapman, 2003; Eberst, n.d.,) can help the hospitals develop a new method of healing that is more holistic in approach. The Joint Commission (2005) recommends spiritual assessment program which can help the medical officers to know the needs of the patients aside from the usual physical treatment. It will help them gather information about the spiritual needs of the patient which can then be used to form a new framework that will address such needs and some related issues (Joint Commission,2005, p. 6). Assessing the spiritual state of a patient is not simply about asking them a series of specific questions about their faith or beliefs in life. Patients’ spiritual well-being touches matters that may be delicate to talk about with the patient. The process requires effort and adequate understanding of the reasons behind the assessment activity from the assessor. The task carries specific values that the assessor should acquire before conducting the activity. Such values include being polite in asking the patient and being careful in choosing the words that he or she would say to the patient. With regards to the Joint Commission standards, guidelines in constructing a spiritual assessment framework are proposed in line with the appropriate handling of the procedure. Many important matters must be considered in making the framework. As with the assessor, he or she must understand the reasons and objectives of the activity. Given that the topic concerning spirituality and religion are delicate matters, the assessor should not impose his or her belief system on the patient (Joint Commission, 2005: 6-7). As with any other individuals, one should understand and recognize the fact that there are many different views and religions that these people practice. In making this assessment tool, the guidelines provided by the Joint Commission in how to conduct spiritual evaluation of patients appropriately are considered. Thus, the basic structure of the assessment guide questions is based on the key themes that are regarded as significant components of the assessment such as knowing the patients’ faith or religion (if any), evaluating its probable influence on patients’ health, recognizing the patients’ spiritual or religious organization, and assessing the gathered information in order to incorporate such in determining a more effective program that will address the patients’ particular spiritual needs (Joint Commission, 2005; Puchalski, 1999). The following are the guide questions that can help determine the important concepts and issues about patients’ spiritual health. What is the patient’s belief system? What is the patient’s religion? How does it influence the patient in his or her everyday life? Does the patient think that his or her religion can contribute in curing his illness? What is the patient’s opinion and understanding about life, suffering, and death? If any, what are the things that the patients do and practice that he or she thinks can help his or herself to become healthier physically and spiritually? What other things aside from practicing religion that the patient believes can influence his or her health (e.g. talking with some people, socializing with other patients like him, group praying, etc.)? Is the patient affiliated with a religious organization? How does it influence the patient in the way he or she reflects upon his or her health conditions? What is the patients’ opinion about the way he or she is handled in the hospital? What are the things that he or she might suggest in relation to the medical team’s treatment to patients like them? Using this assessment tool, I interviewed a hospital patient and his relatives. There are lots of ways that these guide questions can be used and while interviewing, I realized how different methods of asking the patient may affect patients’ attitudes towards the issue. Whatever one chooses to use, any method cannot be very effective if sincerity and willingness of the assessor are not present. This is in accordance with the studies about restructuring healing hospitals (Chapman, 2003; Eberst, n.d.) which suggest that hospital facilities and equipment are not eno...