Exploring spiritual needs of children facing life-threatening illness

Abstract

Objectives * Summarize the current state of our understanding of spiritual needs of children facing lifethreatening illness. * Learn basic skills for being a spiritual generalist and how to begin exploring spiritual needs of children facing life-threatening illness. Many of those who work with children facing lifethreatening illness report that these children have complex spiritual needs. Yet, little is known about the nature of these needs and what approaches might be most suitable, especially for the generalist without any training in pastoral care. There is increasingly robust literature on the spiritual needs of adults facing life-threatening illness. But the literature from pediatrics remains limited; the subject is particularly challenging because of developmental issues, diverse cultural backgrounds, and a hesitance on the part of many parents and clinicians to explore this sensitive territory. After reviewing the adult literature, we will review theories of children’s spiritual development as well as review in detail what peer-reviewed literature on spiritual needs of children facing life-threatening illness does exist. Having identified what we do and don’t know, and where we may benefit from more research, we will go on to review some practical tips and approaches to exploring spiritual needs of these children. Skills reviewed will include approaches to being a spiritual generalist, partnering with other practitioners (such as chaplaincy and child life), and adapting tools such as FICA in an age- and developmentally-appropriate way to screen for spiritual distress and to evaluate needs. We will also introduce several examples of situations where generalists might encounter challenges surrounding evaluation of spiritual needs of children facing life-threatening illness, along with discussion and suggestions as to how such situations might be safely navigated. Participants should emerge with a basic understanding of spiritual needs of children facing life-threatening illness, a grasp of what it means to be a spiritual generalist, and some basic tools for evaluation.