Experiences of German health care professionals with spiritual history taking in primary care: a mixed-methods process evaluation of the HoPES3 intervention.

Background: Spiritual needs gain importance in old age but are often ignored in health care. Within the 'Holistic care program for elderly patients to integrate spiritual needs, social activity and self-care into disease management in primary care (HoPES3)' a complex intervention was evaluated in a cluster-randomized trial. The aim of this study was to explore the acceptability, feasibility, benefits, and harms of a spiritual history taken by general practitioners (GPs) as part of the complex intervention.

GPs´ Personal Spirituality, Their Attitude and Spiritual Competence: A Cross-Sectional Study in German General Practices.

To understand if GPs' spiritual competence, their personal spirituality and attitude towards enquiring about spirituality in practice interrelate, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 30 German GPs regarding issues of SC. We found correlations between GPs' personal spirituality, their spiritual competence and their attitudes towards SC. The ability to perceive spiritual needs of patients was the competence most strongly related to GPs' attitude towards SC.

Evaluation of a Spiritual History with Elderly Multi-Morbid Patients in General Practice-A Mixed-Methods Study within the Project HoPES3.

Background: The "Holistic Care Program for Elderly Patients to Integrate Spiritual Needs, Social Activity and Self-Care into Disease Management in Primary Care" (HoPES3) examines the implementation of a spiritual history (SH) as part of a multifaceted intervention in German general practices. While the effectiveness of the interventions was evaluated in a cluster-randomized trial, this article investigates the patients' views concerning the acceptability of the SH and its effects.

Methods: A mixed-methods study was conducted in which 133 patients of the intervention group filled in a standardized questionnaire after the intervention.

Spirituality, Self-Care, and Social Activity in the Primary Medical Care of Elderly Patients.

Background: Self-efficacy is decisive for the quality of life of elderly, multimorbid persons. It may be possible to strengthenpatients' self-efficacy can be strengthened by the targeted reinforcement of individual spirituality, social activity, and self-care.This hypothesis was tested with the aid of a complex intervention.

Self-Efficacy, Social Activity, and Spirituality in the Care of Elderly Patients with Polypharmacy in Germany-A Multicentric Cross-Sectional Study within the HoPES3 Trial.

About one third of Europe's elderly population takes ≥5 drugs. Polypharmacy increases their risk of adverse drug reactions. To ensure drug safety, innovative approaches are needed.

Training General Practitioners and Medical Assistants Within the Framework of HoPES3, a Holistic Care Program for Elderly Patients to Integrate Spiritual Needs, Social Activity, and Self-Care into Disease Management in Primary Care.

Background: This study presents a concept for training general practitioners (GPs) in taking a spiritual history. In the same workshop, medical assistants (MAs) were trained in counselling elderly, chronically ill patients on social activities and home remedies. After the training, GPs and MAs will apply the acquired skills in their practices within the scope of the HoPES3 intervention study, which aims at raising patients' self-efficacy.

Holistic care program for elderly patients to integrate spiritual needs, social activity, and self-care into disease management in primary care (HoPES3): study protocol for a cluster-randomized trial.

Background: Strategies to improve the care of elderly, multimorbid patients frequently focus on implementing evidence-based knowledge by structured assessments and standardization of care. In Germany, disease management programs (DMPs), for example, are run by general practitioners (GPs) for this purpose. While the importance of such measures is undeniable, there is a risk of ignoring other dimensions of care which are essential, especially for elderly patients: their spiritual needs and personal resources, loneliness and social integration, and self-care (i.