Hat spiritual issues surrounding a disaster can arise for
Individuals:
• Fear and anxiety about the future.
• Difficulties in accessing spiritual guidance or support from religious leaders, due to displacement or other factors.
• Loss of faith or spiritual crisis due to confronting their mortality after a serious accident or natural disaster.
• Feeling of helplessness and guilt for not being able to prevent the disaster from taking place.
Communities:
• Collective grief over loss of life, property, and infrastructure.
• Disruption of existing spiritual practices and traditions which may lead to a feeling of dislocation and confusion.
• Conflict between different faiths as they blame each other for the disaster that has occurred.
Health Care Providers:
• Recognizing individual’s spiritual needs during times of distress while respecting their beliefs even if they are different than one’s own values/beliefs.
• Offering emotional support with empathy and compassion in order to address issues such as fear, guilt, anger, etc., instead of judgement or criticism.