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The relational model of spiritual engagement depicted by palliative care clients and caregivers
Author(s) -
Penman Joy,
Oliver Mary,
Harrington Ann
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international journal of nursing practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.62
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1440-172X
pISSN - 1322-7114
DOI - 10.1111/ijn.12035
Subject(s) - compassion , spirituality , palliative care , spiritual care , altruism (biology) , perspective (graphical) , psychology , spiritual growth , empathy , sociology , psychotherapist , social psychology , nursing , medicine , philosophy , alternative medicine , theology , pathology , artificial intelligence , political science , computer science , law
This paper aims to explicate the essence of spiritual engagement from the perspective of palliative care clients and their caregivers. Van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological approach guided this study. In‐depth interviews of 14 rural Australian participants with experience of a life‐limiting condition provided rich discourse of the lived experience of spiritual engagement. This research highlights spiritual engagement represented in a relational model developed from a creative synthesis of the emerging themes. Spiritual engagement is associated with ‘personal transformation’, ‘human values of love, compassion and altruism’, ‘maintaining relationships’, ‘participating in religious practices’ and ‘culture’. The findings of this research are supported by Mayes’ observations on spirituality, that is, the ‘pursuit of a trans‐personal and trans‐temporal reality that serves as the ontological ground for an ethic of compassion and service’.