The effects of spiritual care on quality of life and spiritual well-being among patients with terminal illness: A systematic review:

Background:Terminal illness not only causes physical suffering but also spiritual distress. Spiritual care has been widely implemented by healthcare professionals to assist patients coping with spiritual distress. However, the effects of spiritual care need to be clear.Aim:To evaluate the effects of spiritual care on quality of life and spiritual well-being among patients with terminal illness.Design:Systematic review according to the recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidance.Data sources:A comprehensive search was conducted in nine electronic databases from date of inception to May 2017. Hand searches of the bibliographies of relevant articles were also performed. The studies were independently reviewed by two investigators who scored them for methodological quality using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool.Results:No statistical pooling of outcomes was performed and a narrative summary was chosen to describe the included studies. A total of 19 studies ...