It should not be assumed, however, that
everyone with a life-limiting condition or
terminal diagnosis (and those close to them)
will have spiritual needs. Murray et al (2004)
interviewed a group of people who were dying
from either heart failure or lung cancer and
concluded that spiritual issues were significant
for many patients (and their carers) in these
two groups in the last year of life. However,
other studies have shown that the prevalence
of spiritual or existential distress among
people approaching the end of life can
sometimes be relatively low. For example, one
group of hospice patients rated spiritual needs
as sixth most important out of seven identified
domains of end of life need (Arnold 2011).
However, such findings could be the result of
the recording methods used, which in this case
allocated items such as fear, letting go and
dying to non-spiritual domains.