Spiritual Needs in Health Care Settings: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis of Clients' Perspectives (Report‪)‬

As observers have noted, clients' spiritual needs have become a "core health concept" (Shih, Wang, Hsiao, Tseng, & Chu, 2008). Social work practitioners, as key players in the provision of health care services, are often called on to address clients' spiritual needs (Anderson, Anderson, & Felsenthal, 1993; Davidson, Boyer, Casey, Matzel, & Walden, 2008; Flannelly, Galek, & Handzo, 2005; Fletcher, 2004; Sheridan, 2009). NASW's (2001) Standards for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice enjoin practitioners to provide services that are responsive to clients' spiritual beliefs and values, a point echoed by the NASW (2008) Code of Ethics standards that address religion. Taking clients' spiritual needs into account is an integral component of holistic service provision that directly facilitates positive health outcomes. Spiritual needs often emerge in the context of receiving health or behavioral health services (Nelson-Becker, Nakashima, & Canda, 2007). As clients wrestle with challenges, spirituality often becomes more salient (Koenig, 2007; Pargament, 1997). Spiritual assets may be operationalized to help clients understand, cope with, or otherwise deal with the stressors they encounter on admission to the health care system (Pargament & Raiva, 2007; Saleebey, 2006).