Physician's Attitudes towards Spirituality and Pastoral Care

Background and Spirituality is a complex and multidimensional concept that has cognitive, experiential, and behavioral aspects. According to studies many patients believe that religion and spirituality play important roles in their lives. Usually they expect such considerations to be taken into account by physicians. The aim of this study was to investigate the viewpoints of physicians about spirituality and spiritual care.
A cross-sectional study was performed in 318 physicians working in hospitals affiliated with Qom University of Medical Sciences in 2013. Data was collected by a questionnaire consisting of demographic information and measures of spirituality and spiritual care. The validity and reliability of these scales were previously approved.
The mean age of the physicians was 41.51 ± 8.89 years and the majority were married (83%). Amongst the participants 73% were male and 82.7% were general practitioners. The perception of spirituality and spiritual care was desirable in 2.35%, highly satisfactory in 10.1%, and lower than average in 54.7% of the cases. The viewpoints of physicians towards spirituality was significantly correlated with spiritual care (P Based on these findings, doctors’ attitudes towards spirituality and pastoral care was undesirable. Pastoral care trainings are recommended for young physicians and those with lack of experience.