Spirituality in Palliative Care
Call for papers
Spirituality is one of the four fundamental dimensions of human experience, recognized in the definition of health (WHO), as well as in the standard theory and practice of palliative care (through the concept of total pain). Although the research and integration of spirituality in health care in general are already a defined and consistent field of inquiry, its place and role in palliative care, in particular, continues to be relatively under-researched in relation to its importance for patients, family members, and professionals variously facing the end of life.
We invite those interested professionals and researchers to contribute to a special issue of the Paliatia journal (https://www.paliatia.eu/new/) devoted to spirituality in palliative care. Currently, we are soliciting potential authors’ interest in one or more of the following topics or to propose additional relevant topics:
– spiritual and professional personal development, including multi-disciplinary education for palliative care.
– assessment of existential and spiritual needs and challenges (e.g., identity, meaning, faith, beliefs and practices, the relationship with God or the ultimate, suffering and death, guilt and shame, reconciliation and forgiveness, freedom and responsibility, hope and despair, peace and love).
– empathic and compassionate communication, including values-based considerations and attitudes, challenges of diversity and inclusivity.
– the role of spirituality in supportive and collaborative relationships within the interdisciplinary team.
– quality and ethics assessment of spiritual care interventions.
-spiritual care at the end of life within different religious traditions.
-ethical conflicts and spiritual care at the end of life.
-competing anthropologies and spiritual care.
A wide range of methodologies is being solicited including formal hypothesis-driven research studies using quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies, philosophical inquiries, theological reflections, quality improvement audits, opinion pieces, educational studies, and clinical case presentations.
Potential contributors are kindly asked to express their interest in contributing to the special issue by sending a tentative title by June 1, 2023, at sebastian.moldova@ulbsibiu.ro.
The final deadline for submissions is 01 November 2023.
The details concerning the instructions for authors and the review criteria can be found on the journal’s website:
https://www.paliatia.eu/new/send-an-article/instructions-for-authors/
https://www.paliatia.eu/new/send-an-article/review-criteria/
Thank you in advance for your consideration and interest.
Sincerely yours,
Sebastian Moldovan, Ph.D.
Professor of Orthodox Moral Theology, Social and Ethical Theology, and Bioethics
Theological Faculty of Lucian Blaga University, Sibiu, Romania
Daniel Hinshaw, M.D.
Professor Emeritus of Surgery and Consultant in Palliative Medicine,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Invited Editors of Special Issue on Spirituality in Palliative Care, Paliatia Journal of Palliative Care
References:
Best, Megan C., Bella Vivat, and Marie-Jose Gijsberts. “Spiritual Care in Palliative Care.”
Religions 2023, 14(3), 320; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14030320
Best, MC. “Advancing the place of spiritual care within palliative care.” Annals of palliative medicine 2022 Dec;11(12):3607-3609. doi: 10.21037/apm-22-1199.
Best MC, Special Issue “Religious and Spiritual Needs in Palliative Care”; https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/rsnpc
Blaga, Octavian, Iubirea, Sherbrooke, 2021.
Connolly, Michael and Barry Quinn, Call for papers-Spirituality in palliative care, https://www.biomedcentral.com/collections/SPPC.
Espinel, Jorge, et al. “Competencies for quality spiritual care in palliative care in Latin America: from the Spirituality Commission of the Latin American Association for Palliative Care.” Annals of Palliative Medicine 11.10 (2022): 3247-3262.
Hinshaw, Daniel B., Thriving in the Face of Mortality. Kenosis and the Mystery of Life, Cascade Books, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2023.