Patient's spirituality perspectives at the end of life: a qualitative evidence synthesis.

Background: Understanding patient perceptions of their spiritual needs when approaching the end of life is essential to support the delivery of patient-centred care. Aim: To conduct a qualitative evidence synthesis on spirituality and spiritual care needs at the end of life in all healthcare settings from the patients' perspective. Design: Studies were included where they were primary qualitative studies exploring spirituality in patients with a life expectancy of 12 months or less in any setting. Two reviewers independently screened titles, extracted data and conducted methodological quality appraisal. A thematic synthesis was conducted. Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) - Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research (CERQual) was used to summarise the certainty of the evidence. Data sources: Six databases (Medline, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Applied Social Science Index and Abstracts) were searched from inception up to January 2019. Results: Fifty papers (42 unique datasets), incorporating data from 710 patients were included. Studies recruited from a mix of inpatient, outpatient, hospice and community settings across 12 different countries. Three overarching themes were generated: the concept of spirituality, spiritual needs and distress, and spiritual care resources. Relationships were an intrinsic component of spirituality. Conclusion: Meeting patients' spiritual needs is an integral part of end-of-life care. This work emphasises that supporting relationships should be a central focus of spiritual care for patients at the end of life.