California Pharmacists’ Perspectives and Experiences with Prayer and Spiritual Conversations with Patients: An Exploratory Study

TL;DR

This study explores how California pharmacists engage in spiritual conversations and prayer with patients, finding that many believe pharmacists can initiate such discussions.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into pharmacists' perspectives on integrating spiritual care into patient interactions.

Findings

Most respondents were Christian and had spiritual conversations with patients.

Over half of the pharmacists had prayed for a patient.

Many pharmacists believe they can initiate spiritual or prayer conversations with patients.

Abstract

This exploratory study examined the spiritual care beliefs of California pharmacists and their perspectives and experiences with prayer and spiritual conversations with patients. An online survey was utilized to collect data from members of the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists in Spring 2021. Most of the 85 respondents (3.4% response rate) were Christian (61%), spiritual (73%) and had a spiritual or religious conversation with a patient (60%) and many had prayed for a patient (48%). Respondents believed that pharmacists can initiate prayer (32%) and spiritual conversations (45%) with a patient.