Spirituality and spiritual engagement as perceived by palliative care clients and caregivers

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experience of spirituality and spiritual engagement as perceived by palliative care clients and their caregivers. Design A qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used based on van Manen's methodological structure of human science research to answer the research questions. Following ethics approval, fourteen home-based in-depth interviews were conducted with four palliative care clients and ten palliative care caregivers. Van Manen's 'holistic' and 'selective' approaches were used to identify the main themes in this study. Setting The participants of this study were recruited from people across rural communities of South Australia who had received or were receiving palliative care and their caregivers. Findings Seven main themes emerged from the data. These were categorised under two headings: spirituality and spiritual engagement. Spirituality was associated with 'God', 'coping', 'religion' and 'relationships with others', while spiritual engagement was associated with 'maintaining relationships', 'love' and 'participating in religious practices'. Conclusion This phenomenological inquiry set out to understand the lived experience of spirituality and engaging in spiritual matters for clients living with life-limiting conditions and their caregivers. In the process, the study identified the many benefits that may be derived from engaging in spirituality. The findings have relevance to clients and caregivers because they may wish to seek opportunities to discuss spiritual matters with health professionals and for health professionals, who will be better prepared for such conversations.