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SPIRIT: A Design Framework To Support Technology Interventions for Spiritual Care Within and Beyond the Clinic

C. Estelle Smith, Alemitu Bezabih, Shadi Nourriz, Jesan Ahammed Ovi

TL;DR

SPIRIT addresses the gap in HCI for spiritual care by revising the definition of spiritual care and introducing a design framework to guide digital interventions. The authors combine re-analysis of prior CaringBridge data with new semi-structured interviews of 22 spiritual care providers, deriving three prerequisites and six design dimensions. SPIRIT encompasses three care phases and offers design questions and a hypothetical distal application (screening for spiritual distress) to illustrate its use. The work highlights the importance of safe spaces, openness, and discernment in digital care and discusses limitations, validation needs, and pathways to practice through communities of practice. The framework aims to expand access to spiritual care beyond the clinic while maintaining professional standards and human connection.

Abstract

Despite its importance for well-being, spiritual care remains under-explored in HCI, while the adoption of technology in clinical spiritual care lags behind other healthcare fields. Prior work derived a definition of "spiritual support" through co-design workshops with stakeholders in online health communities. This paper contributes: (1) a revision of that definition through member checking with professional spiritual care providers (SCPs); (2) a novel design framework -- SPIRIT -- which can help to expand models of delivery for spiritual care using digital technologies. Through re-analysis of previous data and new interviews with SCPs, we identify three prerequisites for meaningful spiritual care: openness to care, safe space, and the ability to discern and articulate spiritual needs. We also propose six design dimensions: loving presence, meaning-making, appropriate degree of technology use, location, degree of relational closeness, and temporality. We discuss how SPIRIT offers guidance for designing impactful digital spiritual care intervention systems within and beyond clinical settings.

SPIRIT: A Design Framework To Support Technology Interventions for Spiritual Care Within and Beyond the Clinic

TL;DR

SPIRIT addresses the gap in HCI for spiritual care by revising the definition of spiritual care and introducing a design framework to guide digital interventions. The authors combine re-analysis of prior CaringBridge data with new semi-structured interviews of 22 spiritual care providers, deriving three prerequisites and six design dimensions. SPIRIT encompasses three care phases and offers design questions and a hypothetical distal application (screening for spiritual distress) to illustrate its use. The work highlights the importance of safe spaces, openness, and discernment in digital care and discusses limitations, validation needs, and pathways to practice through communities of practice. The framework aims to expand access to spiritual care beyond the clinic while maintaining professional standards and human connection.

Abstract

Despite its importance for well-being, spiritual care remains under-explored in HCI, while the adoption of technology in clinical spiritual care lags behind other healthcare fields. Prior work derived a definition of "spiritual support" through co-design workshops with stakeholders in online health communities. This paper contributes: (1) a revision of that definition through member checking with professional spiritual care providers (SCPs); (2) a novel design framework -- SPIRIT -- which can help to expand models of delivery for spiritual care using digital technologies. Through re-analysis of previous data and new interviews with SCPs, we identify three prerequisites for meaningful spiritual care: openness to care, safe space, and the ability to discern and articulate spiritual needs. We also propose six design dimensions: loving presence, meaning-making, appropriate degree of technology use, location, degree of relational closeness, and temporality. We discuss how SPIRIT offers guidance for designing impactful digital spiritual care intervention systems within and beyond clinical settings.
Paper Structure (62 sections, 3 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 62 sections, 3 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Literature
  3. Differentiating Spirituality and Religion
  4. Spirituality
  5. Religion
  6. Professional Spiritual Care
  7. Prior Work in Digital Spiritual Care
  8. Motivating the Expansion of Spiritual Care into Technology Domains
  9. Digitization of Spiritual Care
  10. Designing for Religious, Spiritual, and Existential Concerns in HCI
  11. Spiritual Care in HCI
  12. CaringBridge
  13. Methods
  14. Re-Use of Prior Co-Design Data
  15. Interviews with Spiritual Care Providers
  16. ...and 47 more sections

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: Definition of Spiritual Support from smith_what_2021.
  • Figure 2: Design Dimensions for Technological Spiritual Care Interventions.
  • Figure 3: Revised Definition of Spiritual Care.