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Spiritual care for hospitalised COVID-19 patients: Are we ready this time around?
By I. Papadopoulos, C. Koulouglioti, R. Lazzarino, S. Wright, and P. E. Logan
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a pandemic on the 11th
March 2020. On the 23rd March 2020, the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced on
a television broadcast that existing measures to mitigate the virus were to be tightened and
enhanced further. A wide ranging restrictions made on freedom of movement through a stay-
at-home order which would last for at least three weeks. The slogan “Stay home, Protect the
NHS, Save Lives” was introduced.
In July 2020, the UK Prime admitted in a BBC TV News interview that in the early weeks
and months of the COVID-19 the government had not fully understood the severity of the
situation and, since this was a new and largely unknown virus, the government and the NHS
were not fully aware on how to best approach its treatment and prevention. In the UK the
death rate started rising at the end of March 2020, reaching its peak in April 2020. It began its
descending trajectory at the end of April beginning of May 2020.
The UK population was also unprepared for this shocking health emergency. The pandemic
was considered as an extreme, unprecedented existential crisis, which was, and is, creating
new societal systems and conditions of living, working and behaving, including how
individuals cared for themselves and others, especially those who were affected by the
COVID-19 symptoms or disease. The virus was extremely infectious, was spreading very fast
and for those unfortunate to develop the disease, especially the older people and those in
certain vulnerable groups, it meant days or weeks of suffering and/or being ventilated
artificially. Large numbers of them died, often alone, unless there was a nurse available to
support them in their last stages of the disease before they died. Unfortunately, in the vast
majority of cases, relatives, friends and spiritual support givers were not allowed to visit due
to a strict policy designed to stop the spreading of the infection. Anecdotal accounts during
March 2020 and in the following months, strongly indicated that many of the thousands of
people who had died or are dying are deprived of spiritual support, normally seen as the last
act of compassion.
Research evidence strongly suggests that spirituality is an integral part of being human.
Research has also found that very ill people and those dying find comfort from a prayer, or
just the presence of someone who can hold their hand and be with them as they take their last
breaths. However, there is no universal definition of spirituality, and probably, due to its
subjective nature, there should not be one.
We conducted a rapid scoping review of social media and internet sources exploring how
spiritual support was provided to patients during the first wave of the pandemic (March to
May 2020) and in summary we found that:
• COVID had a massive impact on how spiritual support was conceived, and enacted
within the NHS hospitals in England but still remained highly valued;
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• The provision of spiritual support to hospitalised patients was discussed in the media
but the focus was on general statements and on virtual spiritual support practices but
very little was about actual support giving by the bedside;
• We were also surprised to identify a lack of a national strategy on how to ensure the
provision of spiritual support during national emergencies and disasters.
Two days ago, on October 31st 2020 for the second time the UK Prime Minister
announced strict stay at home measures. UK and many other European countries are
entering into a second lockdown for at least four weeks in an effort to combat the spread
of the virus , minimize hospitalisations and deaths.
Having gone through the first wave of the pandemic , we only wonder , are we better
prepared this time around? Are we going to still read stories of patients dying alone and
families being devastated? Will spiritual care be given to those who needed it at the
bedside?
We hope so and we recommend that NHS strategy developers and those who manage the
NHS hospitals find more effective ways to involve the chaplains and other spiritual
leaders in order to be able to be present at the bedside for 24 hours per day and we call for
the development of a National Spiritual Support Strategy for Major Health Emergencies
and Disasters.
Readers can access our report at https://cultureandcompassion.com/Spirituality/#page=1