Spiritual Care Interventions for Adult Patients in Intensive Care Units: A Scoping Review Protocol

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Medicine
• Integrative Healthcare
• Patient-Centered Care

Background:

• Intensive care units (ICUs) traditionally focus on disease-centered approaches, often overlooking the spiritual needs of patients.
• A holistic and patient-centered model is essential for improving patient healing and well-being.
• There is a recognized need to integrate spiritual care interventions into daily ICU practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a comprehensive scoping review of spiritual care interventions for adult patients in ICU settings.
• To identify the characteristics, providers, resources, outcomes, and assessment tools of these interventions.
• To inform the integration of spiritual care into critical care.

Main Methods:

• Adherence to Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology and PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines.
• Inclusion of quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods studies, editorials, opinion papers, and gray literature with no date limitations.
• Systematic search of multiple databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, etc.) with dual independent reviewer screening and data extraction.

Main Results:

• This research provides the first comprehensive overview of spiritual care interventions specifically for adult ICU patients.
• The review will detail the attributes, providers, resources, outcomes, and assessment tools associated with these interventions.
• Findings will illuminate current practices and identify gaps in spiritual care delivery within ICUs.

Conclusions:

• Enhancing the spiritual dimension of patient-centered care in the ICU is vital.
• Findings will support a shift from a biomedical model to a holistic approach in critical care.
• This work aims to establish a new standard for spiritual care in intensive care settings.