A Hindu Perspective of Spiritual Care in Palliative Care

Hinduism has been considered as a synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions with diverse origin and no single founder. Hinduism, also known as Sanatan Dharma, is a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. Spiritual care is an important part of palliative care and end-of-life care among Hindus. Palliative care settings do give some informal attention to this aspect; however, formal spiritual care is missing. Spirituality and religion are strongly associated in Hinduism in different tenets. Hindus with chronic illnesses utilise the concept of karma to reconcile to this distress. There are different theologies, practices, and sacred texts in Hinduism. Practice and beliefs near and after death differ region to region. The cultural and religious dynamics in India have been changed drastically over time after reform movements and colonisation of Asia by the western world. There are many formal and informal ways of assessing spiritual distress among Hindus. The Spiritual Distress Scale for Palliative Care in India tool (SpiDiScI-PC) is a new development for assessing spiritual assessment in Indian population.