Spiritual Care for the Bereaved

While understandings of the nature and scope of spirituality vary, it is nevertheless clear that spirituality, however understood, is not only disrupted by bereavement but can also be a resource for living with bereavement. The extent to which bereavement models take spiritual need and spiritual resources into account varies according to the assumptions and emphases of the disciplinary framework in which each model is based. In this chapter, we discuss how the perspective provided by a spiritual care approach both complements and critiques current approaches to bereavement care; and how bereavement care might incorporate and contribute to spiritual care. We suggest that a spiritual perspective can hold together the insights offered by diverse bereavement theories, provide perspective on the importance and relevance of clinical interventions, and suggest further strategies to complement those currently recognised and funded (usually) through health services. We also discuss the extent to which bereavement theories have been shaped by data from selected populations and show how paying attention to the ways bereavement is experienced in society in general shifts the focus of care away from professional interventions towards support provided in the community. Our contention in this chapter is that the social aspects of bereavement are the least developed in most bereavement theories and therapies, and that a public health approach can restore a more-nuanced social aspect that also accommodates spiritual aspects through their social expression. This public health approach needs to be grounded in the ecological perspective exemplified in compassionate communities’ strategies. In such a framework, spiritual care can be provided implicitly as well as explicitly, so that spiritual care does not need to be initiated alongside debates about whether a spiritual care framework applies to all, or just some, people.