Table 3.

Spiritual Needs Assessment (Example)

Spiritual needs based on spiritual attributes	Questions
1. Existential needs: The need to find purpose and meaning in life	[Spiritual Strengths: The Meaning of Life] • Key Questions - What are the most important purposes (goals), values, and things that matter (or are important) in your life? • Additional Questions - What was the most rewarding (or meaningful, or well-done) thing you've ever done in your life? - What have you done so far, and what has it meant in your life? - What are your favorite traits (strengths) about yourself, and how have they helped you in your recent situation? - Do you have any advice or things you'd like to leave behind for your children or the next person in your life?
	[Spiritual Strengths: Seeking meaning] • Key Questions - What gives you the strength to endure the current situation? • Additional Questions - When you look back on your life, what do you think it was like? - What was the biggest crisis you've faced in your life, and what gave you the strength to get through it? - What has most influenced your life purpose? - If you lose a part of your body or a bodily function, how will it affect the meaning and purpose of (your) life? - How has your illness changed your life goals?
Spiritual needs, spiritual problems (diagnosis), and spiritual strengths (examples)
Example 2 Underline: Spiritual needs manifestation Italics: Spiritual strengths	Mr. Pyeon (male/83 years old) received radiation therapy for prostate cancer. Two years later, he was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer of the pancreas and was treated with chemotherapy. After the disease progressed and chemotherapy was discontinued, he enrolled in a home hospice program. He had previously worked as a local government employee and had been transferred frequently, so he was often away from his family when raising his two children. He expressed that he had met his wife through an arranged marriage and they lived together, but he has never had a deep conversation with her and does not have much affection for her. He doesn't have much time for hobbies or leisure outside of work, so when he thinks back on his life, he doesn't have many pleasant memories. After being diagnosed with a terminal illness, he expressed that he thought it was right to sacrifice and do his best to raise and feed his family when she was younger, but now he is full of regret and resentment because he has difficulty moving around due to lower extremity edema and is confined to his home and cannot live alone without help from others. "It's so unfair, I thought this was the way I was supposed to live, but now I look back and I don't see myself in my life, I'm just a slave, I'm just a person who's locked up and told what to do. I've never been happy, it feels so unfair that I've lived this way." As his illness progressed and his delirium increased, he became unable to recognize his family members and became aggressive, screaming "Don't lock me up! Open the door!" and became aggressive, wielding a bat, running out of the house and injuring himself. "There are soldiers standing guard over me, keeping an eye on me, making me do things. Please help me."
Spiritual needs identified in the case	• Existential needs: the need to find purpose and meaning in life. • Relational needs: the need for love, connection, and harmonious relationships with oneself and significant others.
Spiritual problems (Diagnosis) (number: priority)	• Lack of meaning and purpose (①) • Anger (②) • Despair and hopelessness (③)
The spiritual strengths of the case (underline the relevant part)	• The meaning of life • Trying to find meaning • Love (altruistic) • Gratitude • Compassion and forgiveness • Belief or faith • Tranquility • Acceptance • Hope for the afterlife