THE REPRESENTATION OF SERVICE USERS’ RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL CONCERNS IN CARE PLANS

Purpose
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy with which care plans
capture and make use of data on the spiritual and religious concerns of
mental health service users in a UK Health and Social Care Trust.

Design
A questionnaire was given to service users (N=71) and the findings compared
with the information held on their behalf by the relevant Health and Social
Care Trust at three key points in the care planning process.

Findings
The study found that the importance that many service users accorded to
spirituality and religion was not reflected in the electronic records, that some
information was wrong or wrongly-nuanced when compared with the patient’s
self-description and that service users themselves were often mistaken
regarding the type and quality of information held on record.

Practical Implications
The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the process of
information gathering, to the training and support of Care Coordinators and to the monitoring and revision of Care Plans.

Originality/value
Although there have been studies of the delivery of ‘spiritual care’ in general
acute care, there have been no similar studies in relation to mental health
service users and their needs. The comparison of information from the service
users themselves with the information recorded by the Trust provides a
measure of the extent to which service user’s own perspectives are being
incorporated into their care plans.