Providing patients with spiritual support is one of the crucial components of a strategy that leads to successful management of their health-related concerns. However, in the present-day setting, a healthcare provider must be able to meet the spiritual needs of patients from a variety of backgrounds, some of which may be significantly different from what a therapist is used to in their practice. Therefore, as a therapist, one must be fully aware of one’s professional strengths and weaknesses in providing spiritual care and support (Bornet et al., 2019). Evaluating my merits as the provider of spiritual care, I should mention sensitivity to patients’; needs and tactfulness. However, I tend to fail to conceal my skepticism when discussing the beliefs that I tend to perceive as lacking credibility, thus reducing patients’ trust, which is one of the main weaknesses to be addressed in the future.
The management of ethical dilemmas in healthcare is another concern worth addressing as a part of the proper care process. If I were a patient and faced a complex ethical situation in the healthcare context, such as the necessity to choose between an intervention that I perceive as inappropriate due to my spiritual beliefs and possible death, I would choose the former. Namely, I would rely on the recommendations of the healthcare provider entirely as long as they are sensible and based on the concept of beneficence, even if they do not meet my spiritual standards. However, the specified point of view stems from my experiences as a healthcare provider, as well as knowledge of the human body and related health-based needs. In turn, patients without the required level of health literacy are likely to rely on their spiritual perceptions, which may ultimately result in fatal outcomes or severe damage to their health. Therefore, patient education must be seen as a crucial aspect of providing spiritual care.
Reference
Bornet, M. A., Edelmann, N., Rochat, E., Cornuz, J., Poncin, E., & Monod, S. (2019). Spiritual care is stagnating in general practice: the need to move towards an embedded model. British Journal of General Practice, 69(678), pp. 40-41. Web.