The (Un)Expected Gift
Implicated Religion in the Kidney Transplant Experience
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/imre.23883Keywords:
spirituality, spiritual care, kidney transplant, illness narrativeAbstract
Receiving an organ is an event that marks a turning point in the patient’s life trajectory, not only because it marks the beginning of a new phase in the therapeutic process, but also because it opens up an unprecedented existential perspective in the recipient. This perspective is typically told through an autobiographical narrative marked by an implicitly religious or spiritual vocabulary centred on the feeling of rebirth and the sacredness of organ donation. Starting from the analysis of a corpus of qualitative interviews, the article
aims to show the spirituality implicit in the autobiographical narratives of a group of members of the Associazione Nazionale Emo-Dializzati (ANED) of Turin (Italy). The data indicate that this implicit dimension is the product of a co-construction between patients and health workers in the context of the specific organizational culture of the hospital ward. This finding suggests possible directions for the implementation of spiritual care interventions in clinical practice.
References
Almutary, H., A. Bonner and C. Douglas. 2016. “Which Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease have the Greatest Sympton Burden? A Comparative Study of Advanced CKD Stage and Dialysis Modality.” Journal of Renal Care 42(2): 73–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/jorc.12152
Batstone, E., C. Bailey and N. Hallett. 2020. “Spiritual Care Provision to End-of-Life Patients: A Systematic Literature Review.” Journal of Clinical Nursing 29: 3609–3624. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.15411
Bailey, E. 2009. “Implicit Religion.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, edited by Peter B. Clarke, 801–815. Oxford Handbooks Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxford-hb/9780199588961.013.0045
Bélanger, E., C. Rodríguez, D. Groleau, F. Légaré, M. MacDonald and R. Marchand. 2016. “Patient Participation in Palliative Care Decisions: An Ethnographic Discourse Analysis.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being 11: 32438. https://doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v11.32438
Bravin, A. M., A. dos Santos Trettene, R. de Souza Cavalcante, V. Burgugi Banin, N. de Moura Ribeiro Paula, T. S. Saranholi, R.C. Popim and L. G. Modelli de Andrade. 2017. “Influence of Spirituality on Renal Function of Kidney Transplant Patients.” Acta Paulista de Enfermagem 30(5): 504–511. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-0194201700073
Busch, I.M., F. Moretti, G. Travaini, A. W. Wu and M. Rimondini. 2019. “Humanization of Care: Key Elements Identified by Patients, Caregivers, and Healthcare Providers. A Systematic Review.” Patient 12(5): 461–474. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40271-019-00370-1
Caldeira, S. and F. Timmins. 2017. “Implementing Spiritual Care Interventions.” Nursing Standard 31: 54–60. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns.2017.e10313
Charon, R. 2013. “Narrative Medicine in the International Education of Physicians.” Press Med 42(1): 3–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lpm.2012.10.015
———. 2006. Narrative Medicine. Honoring the Stories of Illness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cardano, Mario. 2008. “Punti di svolta.” In Punti di svolta. Analisi del mutamento biografico, 123–171. Bologna: il Mulino.
Connolly, M. and F. Timmins. 2021. “Spiritual Care for Individuals with Cancer: The Importance of Life Review as a Tool for Promoting Spiritual Well-Being.” Seminars in Oncology Nursing 37(5). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soncn.2021.151209
Debnam, K., C. L. Holt, E. M. Clark, D. L. Roth and P. Southward. 2012. “Relationship between Religious Social Support and General Social Support with Health Behaviors in a National Sample of African Americans.” Journal of Behavioral Medicine 35(2): 179–189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-011-9338-4
Fisher, J. 2011. “The Four Domains Model: Connecting Spiritualuty, Health and Well-Being.” Religions 2: 17–28. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel2010017
Frank, A. 1995. The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness and Ethics. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226260037.001.0001
Fuller, R. 2001. Spiritual but not Religious. Understanding Unchurched America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/0195146808.001.0001
Green, C. 2021. “Nurses and Patients’ Perspectives on Spiritual Health Assessment.” Journal of Religion and Health 60: 122–133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01113-5
Grainger, R. 2004. “A Reply to Gollnick. Implicit Religion isn’t Spirituality in Disgiuse.” Implicit Religion 7(3): 276–278. https://doi.org/10.1558/imre.7.3.276.66311
Habermann, M., L. R. Uys and B. Parfitt. 2005. The Nursing Process: A Global Concept. Edinburgh: Elsevier.
Heelas, P. and L. Woodhead. 2005. The Spiritual Revolution. Why Religion Is Giving Way to Spirituality. Oxford: Blackwell.
Hermann, C. 2006. “Development and Testing of the Spiritual Needs Inventory for Patients near the End of Life.” Oncology Nursing Forum 33(4): 737–744. https://doi.org/10.1188/06.ONF.737-744
Ho, R., C. Chan, P. Lo, P. Wong, C. L. Chan, P. Leung and E. Chen. 2016. “Understandings of Spirituality and its Role in Illness Recovery in Persons with Schizophrenia and Mental-Health Professionals: A Qualitative Study.” BMC Psychiatry 16(86): 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-0796-7
Hodge, D. 2013. “Implicit Spiritual Assessment: An Alternative Approach for Assessing Client Spirituality.” Social Work 58(3): 223–230. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swt019
Isaac, K., J. Hay and E. Lubetkin. 2016. “Incorporating Spirituality in Primary Care.” Journal of Religion and Health 55(3): 1065–1077.
JCAHO—Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization. 1999. “Patient Rights and Organization Ethics.” In Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals: The Official Handbook (update 3). Oakbrook Terrace, III: R1-15.
Kleinman, A. 1988. The Illness Narrative: Suffering, Healing and the Human Condition. New York: Basic Books.
Lucchetti, G., M. Peres and R. Damian. 2019. Spirituality and Health. Cham: Springer.
Maghen, A., G. Vargas, S. Connor, S. Nassiri, E. Hicks, L. Kwan, A. Waterman, S. Maliski and J. Veale. 2018. “Spirituality and Religiosity of Non-Directed (Altruistic) Living Kidney Donors.” Journal of Clinical Nursing 27(7–8): 1662–1672. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14223
Mayers, C. and D. Johnston. 2009. “Spirituality. The Emergence of a Working Definition for Use within Healthcare Practice.” Implicit Religion 11(3): 265–275. https://doi.org/10.1558/imre.v11i3.265
McSherry, W. and L. Ross. 2010. Spiritual Assessment in Healthcare Practice. Keswick: M&K.
Mercadante, L. 2014. Belief without Borders: Inside the Minds of Spiritual but not Religioius. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199931002.001.0001
Monod, S., E. Rochat, C. Büla, G. Jobin, E. Martin and B. Spencer. 2010. “The Spiritual Distress Assessment Tool: An Instrument to Assess Spiritual Distress in Hospitalised Elderly Persons.” BMC Geriatrics 10(88). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2318-10-88
Nissen, D. R., D. T. Viftrup and N.C. HvidT. 2021. “The Process of Spiritual Care.” Frontiers in Psychology 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.674453
Oman, D. 2018. Why Religion and Spirituality Matter for Public Health. Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73966-3
Papadopoulos, I. and G. Copp. 2005. “Nurse Lecturers’ Perception and Teaching of Spirituality.” Implicit Religion 8(1): 22–39. https://doi.org/10.1558/imre.2005.8.1.22
Puchalski, C. 2014. “The FICA Spiritual History Tool.” Journal of Palliative Medicine 17(1): 105–106. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2013.9458
Puchalski, C., R. Vitillo and S. K. Hull. 2014. “Improving the Spiritual Dimension of Whole Person Care: Reaching National and International Consensus.” Journal of Palliative Medicine 17(6): 642–656. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2014.9427
Puchalski, C. and A. Romer. 2000. “Taking a Spiritual History Allows Clinicians to Understand Patients More Fully.” Journal of Palliative Medicine 3(1): 129–137. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2000.3.129
Puchalski, C., A. Sbrana, B. Ferrell, N. Jafari, S. King, T. Balboni, G. Miccinesi, A. Vandenhoeck, M. Silbermann, L. Balducci, J. Yong, A. Antonuzzo, A. Falcone and C. Ripamonti. 2019. “Interprofessional Spiritual Care in Oncology.” ESMO Open 4(1): e000465. https://doi.org/10.1136/esmoopen-2018-000465
Saadatpanah, S., N. V.Zare, J. Malekzadeh, T. Sadeghi and F. Khorashadizadeh. 2018. “Relationship between Coping and Spiritual Health in Renal Transplant Recipients.” Evidence Based Care Journal 7(4): 73–77.
Sajja, P. and C. Puchalski. 2018. “Training Physicians as Healers.” AMA Journal of Ethics 20(7): 655–663. https://doi.org/10.1001/amajethics.2018.655
Sulmasy, D. P. 2002. “A Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Model for the Care of Patients at the End of Life.” The Gerontologist 42(3): 24–33. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/42.suppl_3.24
Stewart, F. 2020. “Implicit Religion: A New Approach to the Study of Religion?” Challenging Religious Issues 16: 22–27.
Taylor, R. and E. Johnston. 2019. Spiritual Care: Nursing Theory, Research and Practice. Hoboken: Prentice Hall.
Timmins, F. and S. Caldeira. 2017. “Assessing the Spiritual Needs of Patients.” Nursing Standards 31(29): 47–53. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns.2017.e10312
Timmins, F. and S. Caldeira, eds. 2019. Spirituality in Healthcare: Perspective for Innovative Practice. Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04420-6
Timmins, F., M. Connolly, S. Palmisano, D. Burgos, L. Juárez, A. Gusman, V. Soriano, M. Jewdokimow, W. Sadlon, A. Serrano, D. Caballero, S. Campagna and J. Vásquez García-Peñuela. 2022. “Providing Spiritual Care to In-Hospital Patients during COVID-19: A Preliminary European Fact-Finding Study.” Journal of Religion and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-022-01553-1
Yang, G., Y. Tan, Y. Cheung, W. Lye, S. Lim, W. Ng, C. Puchalski and P. Neo. 2016. “Effect of a Spiritual Care Training Program for Staff on Patient Outcomes.” Palliative Supportive Care 15(4): 434–443. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951516000894
VandeCreek, L. 2010. “Defining and Advocating for Spiritual Care in the Hospital.” Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling 64(2): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/154230501006400205
Wuthnow, R. 1998. After Heaven. Spirituality in America Since the 1950s. Berkeley: University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520924444
