Pharmacists' perspectives about spiritual care: A state-wide survey

Abstract

Background: Patients' religious and spiritual beliefs affect their health behaviors, health outcomes, and interactions with health care providers. Incorporating spiritual support in clinical care contributes positively to patient health outcomes. No known studies have explored spiritual care (SC) within the context of pharmacy practice.

Objective: To examine pharmacist perspectives about SC, the frequency with which SC is incorporated in pharmacy practice, and the ways that pharmacists provide SC.

Methods: Data were collected using a cross-sectional statewide survey. The 57-item questionnaire was mailed to 1000 randomly selected registered pharmacists in California in 2019. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, independent samples t test, and chi-square tests were used to analyze the data.

Results: Most of the 215 respondents were female (57.5%); the average length of work experience was 23.3 years (SD = 14.4). Just over half practiced in an urban setting (51.1%); similarly, half worked with terminally ill patients (50.2%). Most of the respondents were "somewhat" to "very spiritual" (77.8%) and "somewhat" to "very religious" (64.3%). Most pharmacists agreed that pharmacists should know about patients' spiritual concerns that may relate to their health (60.5%), that they should practice in a spiritually sensitive manner (73.4%), and that addressing patients' spiritual concerns improved their mental and physical health (76.7%). Respondents "rarely" to "very often or always" prayed privately for a patient (63.8%) and talked to patients about a spiritual and/or religious topic (51.2%), encouraged a patient to pray (49.3%), referred patients to their clergy or religious leader (39.5%), and prayed with a patient (33.5%). The frequency of spiritual services provided by pharmacists differed by their own spirituality, religiosity, and perception of institutional support (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Most of the respondents were spiritual and religious and believed that spirituality is important for their patients. Thus, some provided SC to their patients. Future research is warranted to examine ethically appropriate strategies for pharmacists to provide SC.