What Are Sources of Spiritual and Existential Suffering for Patients With Advanced Illness?

Religious, spiritual, and existential aspects of care constitute an essential domain that should be addressed in palliative care practice. Palliative care clinicians can assess for spiritual or existential distress using existing dialogue-based tools or questions designed to explore goals for care, values, and hopes. Sources of spiritual or existential suffering during serious and life-threatening illness may include disturbances in the patient’s sense of connection to what is important in life and inability to make meaning from their situation. Therapeutic relationships built with patients and family members through focused conversation and nonjudgmental presence may help reduce this distress and suffering. For complex spiritual and existential issues that do not resolve, patients or family members should be referred to a professional chaplain.