Abstract
Spirituality is among the resources that many turn to as they deal with a diagnosis of advanced cancer. Researchers have made much progress in exploring and understanding spirituality’s complex and multifaceted role in the midst of metastatic disease. As a result, spirituality is seen as an important aspect of a holistic and respectful approach to clinical care for patients and their loved ones. In this article, we provide a systematic review of the literature related to the interface between spirituality and metastatic cancer. We included articles published from January 2013 to June 2014. Twenty-two articles were reviewed, consisting of clinical intervention trials, association studies, surveys, qualitative studies, and review articles. The articles discussed efforts to improve patients’ spiritual well-being, with relevant measurement scales; the associations of spirituality and end of life treatment practices; and efforts to better understand and meet the spiritual needs of patients and caregivers.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-9 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Current oncology reports |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2015 |
Keywords
- Advanced cancer
- Chaplains
- Palliative care
- Spirituality
- Systematic review
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology