Search Results (9)

On behalf of the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology, we are pleased to present the Abstracts from the 2025 Annual Conference, titled “Responding to the Human Experience of Cancer and Caring for the Soul: Building on 40 years of global leadership in psychosocial oncology”. The 40th Annual CAPO Conference was held in Toronto from 23 April 2025 to 25 April 2025. In an era marked by the rapid advancement of biologically focused precision medicine, it is imperative to redirect our attention towards the human experience of illness and the soul of medicine. Biomedicine has conceptualized illness in ways that have proved profoundly productive from a curative and biological point of view. But it cannot—and it does not pretend to—illuminate the experience of living with it. (Hurwitz 2009). This conference aims to delve into the intricate interplay between cutting-edge biomedical technologies inclusive of artificial intelligence and big data and the deeply personal narratives of individuals navigating illness. By shifting the focus from mere disease pathology to encompassing the holistic human experience, we aspire to foster a more compassionate and patient-centered approach to healthcare with psychosocial support at the core of humanistic care that can improve survival and well-being in all aspects of a whole-person approach to illness. Through interdisciplinary dialogue and introspection, we endeavor to illuminate the profound connection between mind, body, and spirit in the practice of medicine, reaffirming the timeless significance of empathy, understanding, and human connection in healing and psychosocial aspects of care as fundamental to living well with cancer. This conference brought together key stakeholders including multidisciplinary professionals from nursing, psychology, psychiatry, social work, spiritual care, nutrition, medicine, rehabilitation medicine, occupational health and radiation therapy for both adult and pediatric populations. Participants included clinicians, researchers, educators in cancer care, community-based organizations and patient representatives. Patients, caregivers and family members presented abstracts that speak to their role in managing cancer experiences and care. Over two hundred (200) abstracts were submitted for presentation as symposia, 20-minute oral presentations, 10-minute oral presentations, 90-minute workshops and poster presentations. We congratulate all the presenters on their research work and contribution. Full article

The perceived value of the integration of spirituality and religion (SR) in mental health care is growing. This study aimed to adapt an SR intervention developed in the USA (SPIRIT) for use in the Netherlands and to explore its applicability. Employing a participatory practice-based action research design, professionals, clients, and an advisory board collaborated in iterative cycles of translation, adaptation, discussion, and testing. The ongoing interfaith dialog during the adaptation process broadened the perspectives incorporated into the existing handouts. We added the term “meaning” (M) alongside SR to accommodate patients who do not identify with religion or spirituality. Additionally, several handouts were added to the original protocol: autonomy, responsibility, and liberty; loneliness and belonging; inspiring persons in the past and present; and grief and loss. Moreover, the existing handout on sacred verses was expanded to encompass versions from various outlooks on life: philosophical/humanistic, Judeo-Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, and Hindu. Finally, layout modifications and diverse exercise formats were introduced. A qualitative examination revealed that the adapted SPIRIT protocol was well received by professionals and patients, and quantitative studies on its applicability and usefulness are recommended. Full article

Every life has a beginning and an end. Natality and mortality are both profound existential fundaments of life that may lead us to question meaning in life as well as to find meaning. In spiritual care, the focus is often on mortality as a source of existential suffering, and on ways to deal with such suffering according to worldview traditions. In humanist traditions, mortality is not only seen as an existential threat but also as an existential given that people need to embrace to find meaning in life. Natality has received much less attention, both in spiritual care and in humanist thought. In this article, we build on philosophical ideas of Arendt and Butler to explore the significance of natality for a humanist perspective on meaning in life and spiritual care. We argue that taking natality into account results in a relational understanding of humanist spiritual care in which the notion of “relational transcendence” is a central element. Natality also means that we can initiate, create, and act in the world, which highlights the political dimension of humanist spiritual care. We reflect on the implications of natality and relational transcendence for humanist spirituality and chaplaincy and formulate some concrete building blocks for working from this perspective. Full article

There has been a limited amount of empirical research conducted in the past on how chaplains, and humanist chaplains in particular, actually interact with their clients during conversations as a part of spiritual care and counselling. The aim of the current study was to gain insight into the extent to which the verbal responses of humanist chaplains corresponded to Rogers’ nondirective approach during conversations with clients. Rogers’ approach has been commonly embraced since the beginning of the professionalization of humanist chaplains in the Netherlands. The study focused on humanist chaplains working at a general hospital in the Netherlands. Ten humanist chaplains took part in the study by audio recording their conversations with clients. The audio recordings were transcribed and analysed, and the verbal responses of humanist chaplains were compared to Rogers’ approach. Subsequently, the verbal responses were analysed via conversation analysis, which also provided insight into how the humanist chaplains actually conversed with clients. Most of the verbal responses (73%) were consistent with Rogers’ nondirective approach, though the ways in which some of the verbal responses were expressed were different; they were more compassionate and comforting. The remaining 27% of the verbal responses were directive and did not correspond to Rogers’ approach. The study shows that, compared to Rogers’ nondirective approach, the approach of the humanist chaplains was more direct and comforting. Full article

Decision making using evidence-based practice (EBP) is generally universally accepted by nurses. Such acceptance may affect the personnel’s behaviour towards patients, which is also demonstrated by taking into consideration the patient’s preferences, including the patient’s spiritual needs, in the care plan. The provision of such care requires the development of an attitude of approval and an adequate level of communicative competence, which will enable the actual implementation of the EBP. The purpose of our study was to assess the perception of spirituality and the nurse’s role in providing spiritual care, as well as the perception of the significance of communication skills in the approval of EBP in professional practice. A multi-centre cross-section study was conducted on a population of 1176 participants (459 undergraduate (bachelor’s programme, BP) and 717 postgraduate students (master’s programme, MP)) from 10 medical universities in Poland. Three tools were used in the study to evaluate the participants’ approach: Evidence-Based Practice Competence Questionnaire (EBP-COQ), The Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale (SSCRS), and Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS). Structural equation modelling was used for the analysis. An analysis of structural equations revealed the presence of positive relationships of the attitude to spiritual care and the role of communicative competences with the approach to EBP regardless of the cohort. A significant difference was found related to the influence of age on the attitude towards learning communicative competences. The approval in this respect was observed to decrease with age in the MP group. Increasing approval of EBP requires strengthening the approach to activity-centred spiritual care, with the simultaneous development of a positive attitude towards learning communicative competences. The model reveals the need to integrate a humanistic approach with EBP, which can be achieved by planning different interventions in different groups of recipients: nurses, academic teachers and students. Full article

In UK society today, over half of the adult population identify as ‘non-religious’. Of those, about three quarters describe themselves as very or extremely non-religious. The ‘non-religious’ can be seen not merely as those without religion but as people with seriously and sincerely held non-religious beliefs. Responding to this situation, Humanists UK set up the Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network to meet the need for non-religious pastoral care. In healthcare and prisons, they have trained hundreds of volunteers to offer an active listening service based on a humanistic Carl Rogers approach, conduct ceremonies, improve education, and provide advocacy, all grounded in non-religious worldviews. Those completing an appropriate Master’s degree have been successfully recruited by the National Health Service into paid professional roles. However, the Prison Service and Armed Forces still restrict such recruitment to people with religious beliefs. Further progress will be enhanced by using more respectful and inclusive language (rather than ‘nones’ and ‘chaplaincy’), promoting equality in recruitment, and adopting a person-centred approach where service users determine their pastoral and spiritual care priorities. Full article

In a growing number of countries, legislation permits physicians—under strict conditions—to grant a request for physician-assisted dying (PAD). Legally allowing for the possibility of granting such a request is in accordance with central humanistic values such as respect for autonomy and self-determination. The Netherlands is one of few countries where severe suffering from a psychiatric illness qualifies as a ground for a request for PAD. Central in this article is a case description of spiritual care provision in the Netherlands by a humanist healthcare chaplain to a patient requesting PAD because of psychiatric suffering. We discuss what we may learn from the case description about how spiritual caregivers may support patients who express a wish to die, and about their contribution to the care for patients with a psychiatric disorder who request PAD. Full article

Addressing existential and spiritual care needs, often remains a challenge in health education. Spirituality is a subjective human experience that shapes how individuals make meaning, construct knowledge, develop their own sense of reality, and bring personal and social transformation. To inspire health and social students at a London based University; learners were engaged into philosophical reasonings associated with the meaning to care. SOPHIE (Self-exploration through Ontological, Phenomenological and Humanistic, Ideological, and Existential expressions)—a reflective practice tool was applied during in-class activities from June 2019–2020. Using SOPHIE as a tool, students were encouraged to explore existential and ontological care aspects by engaging into transformative learning approaches. Participants identified their own existential and spiritual care needs by reflecting on their own meaning making process. SOPHIE enabled resilience and authenticity among learners as a reflexive discourse. Full article

The biopsychosocial model is a modern humanistic and holistic view of the human being in health sciences. Currently, many researchers think the biopsychosocial model should be expanded to include the spiritual dimension as well. However, “spiritual” is an open and fluid concept, and it can refer to many different things. This paper intends to explore the spiritual dimension in all its meanings: the spirituality-and-health relationship; spiritual–religious coping; the spirituality of the physician affecting his/her practice; spiritual support for inpatients; spiritual complementary therapies; and spiritual anomalous phenomena. In order to ascertain whether physicians would be willing to embrace them all in practice, each phrase from the Physician’s Pledge on the Declaration of Geneva (World Medical Association) was “translated” in this paper to its spiritual equivalent. Medical practice involves a continuous process of revisions of applied concepts, but a true paradigm shift will occur only when the human spiritual dimension is fully understood and incorporated into health care. Then, one will be able to cut stereotypes and use the term “biopsychosocial–spiritual model” correctly. A sincere and profound application of this new view of the human being would bring remarkable transformations to the concepts of health, disease, treatments, and cure. Full article