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

Paper Title

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

Publication Info

• Topic area: Digital design frameworks for spiritual care interventions
• Keywords: Spiritual care, HCI, digital interventions, SPIRIT framework, spiritual support, design dimensions, telechaplaincy, meaning-making, safe spaces, compassionate presence

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Spiritual care is underexplored in HCI and underutilized in healthcare technology compared to other forms of care. Existing models lack sufficient digital integration, and there is no standardized framework to guide the design of technological interventions for spiritual care.
• Significance: Spiritual care improves well-being, quality of life, and patient satisfaction while reducing healthcare costs. Expanding its delivery through technology can address unmet needs, particularly in underserved populations.
• Motivation and related work: Prior work defined "spiritual support" through co-design workshops but lacked validation from professional spiritual care providers (SCPs). The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for remote spiritual care solutions, but systemic challenges and gaps in design guidance remain.

Solution

• Proposed approach: The SPIRIT framework (Spiritual Prerequisites and Innovative dimensions foR Integrating Technology) provides a structured approach for designing digital tools and interventions for spiritual care.
• Novelty:
  1. Revised definition of "spiritual care" emphasizing relational accompaniment and compassionate presence.
  2. Identification of three prerequisites for meaningful spiritual care: openness to care, safe space, and the ability to discern and articulate needs.
  3. Introduction of six design dimensions for spiritual care technologies: loving presence, meaning-making, appropriate degree of technology use, location, degree of relational closeness, and temporality.
  4. Development of the SPIRIT framework to guide the design of digital spiritual care interventions across different phases of care.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Re-analysis of prior co-design workshop data with CaringBridge stakeholders.
  • New semi-structured interviews with 22 professional SCPs to refine the definition of spiritual care and identify design principles.
  • Grounded Theory Method (GTM) to synthesize findings into the SPIRIT framework.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Revised definition of spiritual care: A relational, non-transactional process that supports inner strength, meaning-making, and connection to the sacred or significant.
  • Three prerequisites for spiritual care: openness to care, safe space, and discernment/articulation of needs.
  • Six design dimensions for spiritual care technologies, including the importance of loving presence and appropriate technology use.
• Advantage over baselines: The SPIRIT framework provides a comprehensive, stakeholder-informed structure for designing digital spiritual care tools, addressing gaps in prior work and aligning with professional SCPs’ practices.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Data sources: Co-design workshops with 34 participants and interviews with 22 SCPs.
  • Methods: Grounded Theory Method for iterative analysis and member-checking with SCPs.
  • Outputs: Framework validated through participant feedback and aligned with SCPs’ lived experiences.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Limited participant diversity (e.g., no SCPs from military or prison settings).
  • Need for larger, quantitative studies to confirm findings.
  • Lack of robust methodologies for assessing spiritual care outcomes.
  • Future work should validate the SPIRIT framework in real-world design projects and expand its applicability to diverse contexts.

Summary

This paper introduces the SPIRIT framework to guide the design of digital spiritual care interventions, addressing a critical gap in HCI and healthcare. By refining the definition of spiritual care and identifying prerequisites and design dimensions, the framework provides actionable insights for creating meaningful, compassionate, and context-sensitive technologies. Grounded in empirical data from SCPs and prior co-design workshops, SPIRIT offers a structured approach for integrating spiritual care into digital systems, with potential applications in clinical and community settings. Future work should validate the framework and explore its use in diverse care contexts.