Tullio Proserpio1, Laura Veneroni2, Matteo Silva2, Alvaro Lassaletta3, Rosalia Lorenzo3, Chiara Magni2, Marina Bertolotti4, Elena Barisone4, Maurizio Mascarin5, Momcilo Jankovic6, Paolo D'Angelo7, Carlo A Clerici8,9, Carmen Garrido-Colino10, Ignacio Gutierrez-Carrasco11, Aizpea Echebarria12, Andrea Biondi6, Maura Massimino2, Fiorina Casale13, Angela Tamburini14, Andrea Ferrari2. 1. Pastoral Care Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy. 2. Pediatric Oncology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan - Italy. 3. Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department, Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesús, Madrid - Spain. 4. Pediatric Onco-Hematology, Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Division, Regina Margherita Children's Hospital, Turin - Italy. 5. Pediatric Radiotherapy Unit, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Aviano (Pordenone) - Italy. 6. Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department and Tettamanti Research Center, Milano-Bicocca University, "Fondazione MBBM", San Gerardo Hospital, Monza - Italy. 7. Pediatric Oncology Unit, G. Di Cristina Children's Hospital, Palermo - Italy. 8. Department of Oncology and Hematology, University of Study of Milan, Milan - Italy. 9. Clinical Psychology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan - Italy. 10. Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department, Hospital Infantil Universitario Gregorio Marañon, Madrid - Spain. 11. Pediatric Oncology Department, Virgen del Rocio Hospital, Sevilla - Spain. 12. Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department, Hospital de Cruces, Bilbao - Spain. 13. Department of Woman, Children and General and Specialized Surgery, Second University of Naples, Naples - Italy. 14. Ospedale Meyer/Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Careggi, Florence - Italy.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Spirituality is a fundamental aspect of the psychological well-being of adolescents with cancer. This study reports on a survey conducted at pediatric oncology centers in Italy and Spain to examine the situation concerning the provision of spiritual support. METHODS: An ad hoc questionnaire was distributed including multiple-choice questions on whether or not spiritual support was available; the spiritual counselor's role; how often the spiritual counselor visited the unit; and the type of training this person had received. RESULTS: A spiritual support service was available at 24 of the 26 responding centers in Italy and 34/36 in Spain. The training received by the spiritual counselor was exclusively theological in most cases (with medical or psychological training in a few cases). In both countries the spiritual counselor was mainly involved in providing religious services and support at the terminal stage of the disease or in talking with patients and families. Cooperation with caregivers was reported by 27.3% and 46.7% of the Italian and Spanish centers, respectively, while the daily presence of the chaplain on the ward was reported by 18.2% and 26.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The role of the spiritual counselor in pediatric oncology - in Italy and Spain at least - is still neither well-established nor based on standardized operating methods or training requirements. A model that implies the constant presence of a spiritual counselor in hospital wards may be proposed to provide appropriate spiritual support to adolescents with cancer.
INTRODUCTION: Spirituality is a fundamental aspect of the psychological well-being of adolescents with cancer. This study reports on a survey conducted at pediatric oncology centers in Italy and Spain to examine the situation concerning the provision of spiritual support. METHODS: An ad hoc questionnaire was distributed including multiple-choice questions on whether or not spiritual support was available; the spiritual counselor's role; how often the spiritual counselor visited the unit; and the type of training this person had received. RESULTS: A spiritual support service was available at 24 of the 26 responding centers in Italy and 34/36 in Spain. The training received by the spiritual counselor was exclusively theological in most cases (with medical or psychological training in a few cases). In both countries the spiritual counselor was mainly involved in providing religious services and support at the terminal stage of the disease or in talking with patients and families. Cooperation with caregivers was reported by 27.3% and 46.7% of the Italian and Spanish centers, respectively, while the daily presence of the chaplain on the ward was reported by 18.2% and 26.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The role of the spiritual counselor in pediatric oncology - in Italy and Spain at least - is still neither well-established nor based on standardized operating methods or training requirements. A model that implies the constant presence of a spiritual counselor in hospital wards may be proposed to provide appropriate spiritual support to adolescents with cancer.
Authors: Francesca Bomben; Maurizio Mascarin; Giuseppe Maria Milano; Paola Quarello; Marco Spinelli; Assunta Tornesello; Carlo Alfredo Clerici; Federico Mercolini; Domitilla Elena Secco; Maria Antonietta Annunziata; Andrea Ferrari; Marina Bertolotti Journal: Behav Sci (Basel) Date: 2022-04-21