Introduction

Spiritual care is increasingly acknowledged as part of a holistic approach in medicine.

Aim of the research

Establish the level of quality of life, spirituality, and psychological well-being in elderly patients hospitalised for heart failure depending on their gender and NYHA class and the analysis of factors determining spirituality in this group of patients.

Material and methods

A cross sectional study was conducted. A total of 211 patients with heart failure were surveyed. The Self-Description Questionnaire by Heszen-Niejodek, The Polish version of World Health Organisation Quality of Life Instrument Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF), The Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire, and the Psychological Well-being Scale were used.

Results

The respondents with heart failure reported high values of general spirituality and were moderately religious and ethically sensitive. A higher level of spirituality means higher quality of life in such domains as general quality of life perception, physical, psychological, social, and environmental. Being male and of higher class of heart failure worsened the quality of life in most domains. The results of multiple regression indicated that the worse the condition of the disease, the more parameters of QoL affected spirituality and its aspects.

Conclusions

Planning any steps aimed at providing spiritual support in patients with heart failure should be dependent upon their gender and NYHA classification. Improving the quality of life of patients with heart failure may be achieved through ensuring spiritual support from medical staff. It would be beneficial to introduce some principles of providing spiritual care into medical staff educational programmes.