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Spirituality in palliative care

Guest Editors:
Michael Connolly:  University College Dublin, Ireland
Barry Quinn: Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom


BMC Palliative Care has published this Collection on spiritual support in life threatening illnesses and end of life care.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Michael Connolly:  University College Dublin, Ireland

Dr. Michael Connolly, Joint Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems, University College Dublin, Ireland and Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services, Harold’s Cross, Dublin, Ireland.  Dr. Connolly has over 20 years’ experience in nursing and healthcare education. His teaching and research interests include palliative care; ethical and legal issues in nursing, midwifery and health care; ethical issues at end-of-life; health inequalities; and spirituality in health and palliative care. Michael is Associate Editor for BMC Palliative Care and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Nursing and reviews regularly for a range of high impact nursing and healthcare journals.

Barry Quinn: Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom

Barry, has been working as a clinician, academic and researcher in the field of cancer and palliative care for over 30 years and is particularly interested in addressing spirituality, suffering and symptom management in the palliative care setting. Barry has published numerous articles and book chapters on a range of end-of-life care issues including, addressing spirituality, a holistic approach to pain in advanced cancer, symptom management, diversity and inclusion, communication and compassionate leadership. He is the Chair of the Managing Advanced Cancer Pain (MACPT) and the European Oral Care in Cancer (EOCC) expert groups. He is currently working on an inter-professional project for community based nurses, doctors and pharmacists to support people living with advanced cancer. He is a frequent keynote speaker at national and international meetings. He is a member of the Irish Palliative Care Research Network and a Senior Editor for BMC Palliative Care, he continues to review articles for nursing  and medical publications.


About the collection

BMC Palliative Care has published this Collection on Spirituality in Palliative Care.

Spiritual care is an essential domain of palliative care and it has been included in the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of palliative care for almost 15 years. Even though its influence on quality of life is widely recognized, spiritual care has been the most neglected component of palliative care for a long time. However, in recent years, initiatives, including progress at national levels, have been established to promote the integration of this dimension of palliative care in research and clinical care. Growing evidence supports the importance of spiritual care at the end of life and its positive effects on patients’ quality of life have been reported across age groups and patient groups/medical conditions.

In recognition of the important field, BMC Palliative Care has published this Collection which encouraged submissions including but not limited to those addressing:

  • Assessment of spiritual needs in life threatening illnesses/end of life
  • Assessment of spiritual distress in threatening illnesses/end of life
  • Relationship between spiritual support and the other components of palliative and end of life care
  • Effectiveness of spiritual care in palliative care
  • Spiritual support to palliative care patients and to those around them
  • Interventions to implement the integration of spiritual care in palliative care
  • Person spiritual awareness and its influence on clinical practice


(Image credit: furmananna / Getty)

  1. Numerous previous research have established the need for spiritual care among patients with cancer globally. Nevertheless, there was limited research, primarily qualitative, on the spiritual care needs of Chin...

    Authors: Zhangyi Wang, Xiaochun Tang, Liping Li, Huifang Zhou, Yue Zhu, Lamei Chen, Tao Su, Mengru Liu, Xiaoli Pang, Xiaoke Yi, Li Liu, Jingjing Liu and Mengsu Liu
    Citation: BMC Palliative Care 2024 23:50
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. Few studies have examined the spiritual environment of parents of children receiving palliative care in Southern European countries, which are mostly characterized by secularization (or the abandonment of trad...

    Authors: Pau Miquel, Ignasi Clemente and Mario Ciccorossi
    Citation: BMC Palliative Care 2024 23:43
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. There is widespread agreement about the importance of spiritual training programs (STPs) for healthcare professionals caring for cancer patients, and that reflecting on one’s spirituality is the first step. He...

    Authors: Silvia Tanzi, Giovanna Artioli, Elisabetta Bertocchi, Giulietta Luul Balestra, Luca Ghirotto, Mario Cagna, Filippo Laurenti and Simona Sacchi
    Citation: BMC Palliative Care 2024 23:38
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. The aims of the study were first to explore the adaptive leisure activities of classified nursing model from the perspective of nurse-patient interactive care, and to explore its impact on the physical and men...

    Authors: Yun-Zhao Lin, Po Chen, Meng-Meng Lin, Jia-Li Chen, Min-Min Shi and Feng Guo
    Citation: BMC Palliative Care 2023 22:198
    Content type: Research Published on:

    The Correction to this article has been published in BMC Palliative Care 2024 23:10

  5. Most Chinese patients chose to die at home, therefore there is a reliance on the family caregivers to be involved in their palliative care. The needs and coping strategies of family caregivers in home-based pa...

    Authors: Xiaotian Zhang, Tianmeng Xu, Yuan Qin, Minghui Wang, Zhaoyu Li, Jingyu Song, Qianqian Tang, Zidan Wang, Lijie Xu, Lingling Wu and Peng Yue
    Citation: BMC Palliative Care 2023 22:196
    Content type: Research Published on:

  7. Advanced cancer patients face various symptoms, which can cause physical and psychological distress. As a multidimensional construct, spiritual well-being (SWB) may be an inner resource for dealing with these...

    Authors: Yilong Yang, Xinxin Zhao, Meng Cui and Yumei Wang
    Citation: BMC Palliative Care 2023 22:137
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. Improvement of psychosocial-spiritual well-being in patients with life-threatening or life-limiting illness is desirable. Resilience and mindfulness are considered to be helpful for enhancing psychosocial-spir...

    Authors: Polycarpe Bagereka, Rezvan Ameli, Ninet Sinaii, Marcelli Cristine Vocci and Ann Berger
    Citation: BMC Palliative Care 2023 22:133
    Content type: Research Published on:

  9. According to a phenomenology of contemporary religion, the analysis of religious experiences finds that they are part of an individual’s search for something powerful that overcomes him seeking not only a need...

    Authors: Hellen Luiza Meireles Silva, Pedro Henrique Martins Valério, Cristiano Roque Antunes Barreira and Fernanda Maris Peria
    Citation: BMC Palliative Care 2023 22:127
    Content type: Research Published on:

  10. Although being recognized by the World Health Organization as an essential domain of palliative care, spiritual care is still one of the most neglected component of the healthcare system. In this editorial, we...

    Authors: Barry Quinn and Michael Connolly
    Citation: BMC Palliative Care 2023 22:1
    Content type: Editorial Published on:

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of research articles, data notes, case reports, study protocols, and database articles. Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read our submission guidelines. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Spirituality in Palliative Care" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.