Espiritualidad al final de la vida. El papel de los profesionales de la salud

Objectives: This article is about spiritual care at end of life, delving into palliative care. Spiritual field is important throughout the whole biography, because it supposes an innate and necessary search of the meaning of life. Nevertheless, it specially takes on importance when death is close and difficult questions come up. The main goal is to emphasise the importance of spiritual sphere at the end of life and to know the tools for evaluation and treatment of spiritual suffering. Methodology: A bibliographic revision was made in different scientific data bases (Pub- Med, ScienceDirect) about the following issues: Death in actual society and medicine, spiritual needs at end of life, tools for detection, evaluation and treatment. Results: Quite a lot of tools have been developed for detection, evaluation and treatment of spiritual needs, but education and awareness is needed among professionals. Amongst these tools the one proposed by GES stands out. It is a simple, short and sensitive survey for evaluating spiritual sphere, which has also a therapeutic use. Working on this field is beneficial for the patient if it is done in individualised way. Conclusions: Highlight is made on working on the process of dying in actual society, with a direct effect on assistance at the end of life. Considering spiritual needs that appear in this last phase is needed to offer integral assistance. Education is required in this process.