End of Life Care | Spiritual care | Spirituality and the multidisciplinary team

Spirituality and the multidisciplinary team
Session overview
Description
This session aims to help you develop an understanding of the importance of effective team working for the delivery of spiritual care and the importance of leadership, task, and respect for other team members and the disciplines they represent.

This session was reviewed by Rebecca Whiting and Sarah Hanrott and last updated in June 2023.

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• describe models of team working and understand how these operate in palliative and end-of-life care settings
• distinguish different roles and responsibilities and how these integrate in palliative and end-of-life care settings
• identify some of the ethical and legal dimensions to teamwork
• identify aspects of multidisciplinary teamwork which enhance the quality of spiritual care at the end of life
• recognise the specific cultural issues raised and appropriate responses for the worker

Before commencing this session you should:

• Spirituality and the philosophy of end-of-life care (215-0801)
• Understanding and assessing spiritual need and spiritual distress (215-0802)
• Spiritual care and models of spiritual intervention (215-0803)
• Spiritual resources and quality of life (215-0804)

End of life care benefits from an holistic approach, which itself requires a mix of skills if the wide range of needs are to be met. It is difficult for one person to meet all the needs that can arise, hence the need for a team approach.

Team structures and networks vary according to the primary focus or task, the leadership style, and the care setting - hospital, hospice or community. To deliver spiritual care, team members need to be sensitive to the importance of the beliefs held by the people they care for, their own values and beliefs, and possible barriers to engaging with this aspect of care. If the team is to remain mentally healthy, cohesive and effective, the leader needs to attend to the dynamics within the team and able to manage any tensions that may arise.

This session will provide an overview of these issues and suggest further reading to expand the themes.