SCIP: Spiritual Care In Practice - using the EORTC QLQ-SWB32
Research type
Research Study
Full title
SCIP: Spiritual Care In Practice: Using the EORTC QLQ-SWB32 measure of spiritual wellbeing to initiate spiritual care interventions: A three-stage investigation
IRAS ID
300246
Contact name
Bella Vivat
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2025/05/171 social research, UCL Data Protection
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
One central aim of palliative care is to address the spiritual needs of people living with life-limiting health conditions. However, this is not always done successfully, and patients' spiritual needs are not always well-met. Provision may be patchy and inconsistent, especially for people who are generally less well provided for by palliative care, for example, people from minority communities, and/or people with less common religious faiths or spiritual practices.
One reason for this patchy care is that some staff feel unqualified or lacking in experience, and uncertain of how to begin related conversations with patients.
The EORTC QLQ-SWB32 (SWB32 for short) spiritual wellbeing measure for palliative care patients was designed to begin discussions. It was developed internationally, with 451 participants in 14 countries and 10 languages, and has since been translated into another 12 languages. The SWB32 contains 32 statements on people's thoughts and feelings about issues such as their lives, relationships with others, and religious faith (if any). People usually complete it on their own, in 10-15 minutes, reading and reflecting on the statements it contains, and their related feelings, and then indicating how strongly they agree with each statement by ticking an option from 1 to 4.
In palliative care services, staff members can ask patients to complete the SWB32, which they do on their own. When the staff member returns, they can then discuss the patient’s responses with them. Since staff members do not need to ask the questions directly, and patients have already thought about them while answering the SWB32, the conversation can immediately address the issues that are most important to the patient, as shown by how they have answered the SWB32.The Spiritual Care In Practice (SCIP) study will explore how palliative care professionals can use the SWB32 in this way. This is a three-stage study, beginning with SCIP-1: an eight-week pilot-test in two London services. The next stage, SCIP-2, will analyse SCIP-1 data. If this shows that using the SWB32 is useful and helpful, a general model for how staff can use the SWB32 will then be developed. SCIP-3 will explore using this model with more staff in more services.
REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/SC/0211
Date of REC Opinion
21 Jul 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion