Objective: Little is known about the effects of spiritual care trainings for professionals in palliative care. We therefore investigated in a prospective study the effects of the course ‘‘Wisdom and Compassion in Care for the Dying’’, by Christine Longaker, which took place in Munich in October 2002.
Participants and Methods: All 63 participants of the 3.5-day training were asked to fill out three questionnaires: before and after the training, and six months later. The questionnaires comprised demographic data, visual analogue scales about general attitudes towards the work in palliative care, the Self-Transcendence Scale, the spiritual subscale of the FACIT and the Idler Religiosity Index.
Results: 59 participants (94%) filled out the first questionnaire, 58 (92%) the second and 54 (86%) the third. There were 57 (91%) women. The average age was 49 years (range: 26 - 70). Most of the participants were nurses (51%), followed by hospice volunteers (16%) and physicians (14%). 70% were Christians, 9% Buddhists and 21% had no religious affiliation. Preliminary data analysis shows a significant improvement in self-perceived compassion for the dying (end of the training: p=0.002; 6 months later: p=0.032), satisfaction with their work (p<0.001; p=0.047), reduction in work-related stress (p<0.001; p=0.028) and attitude towards colleagues (p=0.039; p= 0.016).
Conclusion: Our preliminary results suggest that the spiritual care training may have had a positive influence on the attitudes of the participating palliative care professionals which was preserved over a 6-month period. Data analysis is still in progress, detailed results will be presented at the meeting.