Spirituality and cancer

A cancer diagnosis can lead many people to think about their faith, religion or spirituality.

You may have questions, feel new emotions, and your personal values, beliefs and views may change. You may withdraw or grow closer to faith, religion or a spiritual support system.

There may be different times during your cancer journey where you may want to talk about your spirituality. This could be with your healthcare team to decide on what type of care or treatment you would like. It could also be with people with similar experiences or spiritual needs in a support group.

Talking to your healthcare team

Your healthcare team may talk to you about your spiritual needs as part of your care.

However, even if your healthcare team does not begin the conversation, you can still talk to your team about your spiritual needs.

It may be helpful to have someone with you when you talk to your healthcare team. You may also find it useful to write down your thoughts or questions before your appointment to help you discuss your spiritual needs.

Your healthcare team is there to support you and listen to what matters.

Holistic Needs Assessment (HNA)

As part of your cancer care, you may have a Holistic Needs Assessment. This is a discussion you have with someone from your healthcare team.

You will fill out an assessment or answer some questions. Then the healthcare professional will talk through your needs and concerns. You both then agree on a plan for your care and support needs.

It's called holistic because you can discuss any area of your life that has been affected by cancer such as your spirituality.

For example, you may want to speak to your healthcare team if it is important to you to pray or have quiet time for reflection before treatment. By discussing this with your healthcare team, they may be able to accommodate this request for you.

HNAs may be offered in hospitals or GP practices. Or it can sometimes be done over the phone or online in a video call (virtually). If you have not been offered an HNA and would like one, you can ask someone from your healthcare team or your GP about it.

Chaplaincy, pastoral and spiritual care services

Many NHS Trusts offer services to meet their patients' spiritual needs. These can be called different names depending on the location such as:

• chaplaincy service
• pastoral care
• spiritual support.

These services will be run by specialists that are sometimes called chaplains. They offer pastoral, spiritual and religious wellbeing for patients and their families and carers.

You can speak to a chaplain or anyone from the spiritual needs service regardless of whether you have faith or not. They can offer a listening ear and give the appropriate support for you.

If you are in a hospital or hospice, you can request to see a member of the spiritual care service.

There may also be a hospital prayer room or chapel that you can use. This is sometimes called a quiet space. You can use this for personal prayer, meditation or as a quiet space to explore your thoughts and feelings.

Local support

If you have spoken to your healthcare team about your spiritual needs, they may be able to signpost you to support in your community.

This could include:

• local support groups
• religious or faith organisations
• complementary services like meditation, reflexology and reiki
• other services that help you connect to others like yoga classes, walking groups and more.

You can also find local support groups and more by using our postcode search.

If you are part of a faith or religion, where you practice this may have support groups and services available to you.

Talking to those close to you

It may be helpful to talk to those close to you about your spirituality and spiritual needs. This could be a family member, friend, carer or a religious or faith leader.

There may be times when you do not feel like talking. You may just want to sit quietly together.

Sometimes other people's spirituality, faith or religion may make it difficult to talk about how you are feeling. You can talk to a healthcare professional who may be able to offer you advice and support in this situation. Or you could ask someone from your spirituality, faith or religion to be there to support you.

If someone's words about spirituality or faith don't feel helpful to you, it's ok to set boundaries or seek support from those who you feel comfortable with.

We have more information talking about cancer to help you think who you want to know about your diagnosis and how to talk to them.

If you are caring for someone

If you are caring for someone with cancer may also you may also have questions about your faith, religion or spiritual beliefs. Your local chaplaincy, pastoral or spiritual care services can support you. They may host support groups to explore your spiritual needs and offer a listening ear.

Online Community

The Online Community is a place to chat to others who know what you or your loved one are going through. You can anonymously share your feelings and experiences and find support from others who understand what you're going through. You'll find dedicated forums such as the religion, spirituality and prayer group forum.