Professorship of Spiritual Care and Psychosomatic Health

Research projects

Call for Papers: Spiritual Care for Critical Care Patients & Staff

Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital are confronted with a life-threatening disease or a critical condition, with challenging bodily symptoms such as pain or grave infirmity. Moreover, they must tackle the (temporary) loss of autonomy and self-determination or even a reduced state of consciousness. On the other hand, not only patients in ICUs are confronted with spiritual questions and needs. The staff assigned to ICUs, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and others, face grave diseases and critical conditions each day, as well as the sometimes underlying factors behind the disease. Part of professional understanding is to perceive the person of the patient as a whole, and to provide treatment on a holistic level, including the spiritual needs of the patient. Qualitative and quantitative papers are welcome! more information...

MD_INSpir

Staff working in intensive-care and emergency medicine are regularly confronted with moral distress. This occurs when framework conditions prevent a person from acting in accordance with their own moral beliefs. In the multicentric study ‘Moral Distress in Intensive-Care and Emergency Medicine and Spiritual Resources’ (MD_INSpir), we are investigating the extent to which spirituality can serve as a resource for handling moral conflicts.

Contact: eckhard.frick@tum.de and violet.handtke@tum.de

HoPES3

To what extent can measures to promote self-efficacy in general practitioners’ surgeries improve the care of chronically ill patients? This is the focus of ‘Holistic Care Programme for Elderly Patients to Integrate Spiritual Needs, Social Activity, and Self-Care into Disease Management in Primary Care’ (HoPES3), a joint research project conducted with Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg and Universitätsklinikum Tübingen.

Contact: ruth.maechler@tum.de

Publications in English

Große, G., Frick, E. & Schütte-Nütgen, K. (2022) Does spirituality mitigate critical carers’ moral distress and strengthen their resilience? A scoping review protocol (registration DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/UYV9G). Spir Care 11(2): 192-198.

Hinzmann, D., Schütte-Nütgen, K., Büssing, A., Boenisch, O., Busch, H.-J., Dodt, C., Friederich, P., Kochanek, M., Michels, G. & Frick, E. (2023) Critical care providers' moral distress: Frequency, burden, and potential resources. Int J Environ Res Public Health 20(1): 333. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/333

Huperz, C., Sturm, N., Frick, E., Mächler, R., Stolz, R., Schalhorn, F., Valentini, J., Joos, S. & Straßner, C. (2022) Experiences of German health care professionals with spiritual history taking in primary care: a mixed-methods process evaluation of the HoPES3 intervention. Family Practice.

Kubitza, J., Große, G., Schütte-Nütgen, K. & Frick, E. (2023) Influence of spirituality on moral distress and resilience among critical care staff in the era of the Covid 19 pandemic: A scoping review Intensive & Critical Care Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iccn.2022.103377 

Kunsmann-Leutiger, E., Loetz, C., Frick, E., Petersen, Y. & Müller, J. J. (2018) Attachment style and spiritual coping in palliative patients. J Hospice Pall Nurs 20(4): 385-391.

Kunsmann-Leutiger, E., Straßner, C., Schalhorn, F., Stolz, R., Stotz-Ingenlath, G., Buhlinger-Göpfarth, N., Bentner, M., Joos, S., Valentini, J. & Frick, E. (2021) Training general practitioners and medical assistants within the framework of HoPES3, a holistic care program for elderly patients to integrate spiritual needs, social activity, and self-care into disease management in primary care. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare 14: 1853.

Mächler, R., Frick, E., Sturm, N., Stolz, R., Valentini, J. & Straßner, C. (2023) Evaluation of an intervention in general practices to strengthen social activities in older patients–A qualitative study of patients’ experiences in the project HoPES3. Patient Educ Couns 107: 107571.

Maidl, L., Seemann, A.-K., Frick, E., Gündel, H. & Paal, P. (2022) Leveraging spirituality and religion in European for profit organizations: a systematic review. Humanistic Management Journal 7: 23–53.

Sohail, M. M., Frick, E. & Büssing, A. (2022) Spiritual care competences among health care professionals in Pakistan: Findings from a cross-sectional survey. Religions 13(4): 370.

Sturm, N., Stolz, R., Schalhorn, F., Valentini, J., Krisam, J., Frick, E., Mächler, R., Szecsenyi, J. & Straßner, C. (2021) Self-efficacy, social activity, and spirituality in the care of elderly patients with polypharmacy in Germany—A multicentric cross-sectional study within the HoPES3 trial. Healthcare 9(10): 1312.

Videos

• How do health professionals' religious / spiritual convictions influence therapeutic decisions?
• Spiritual Care: Dialogue with medical students
• Spiritual Care: Dialogue with medical students - What is the best spiritual care model?
• Spiritual Care: Dialogue with medical students - When is a suitable moment for taking a spiritual history?
• Spiritual Care: Dialogue with medical students - Welcoming traditional health & disease beliefs?
• Training general practitioniers and medical assistands to integrate spiritual needs
• Critical care providers' moral distress