Understanding and Defining Hindu and Integrative Spiritual Care

Spiritual care holds significant promise for the future of work in organizations. However, it lacks a workable ontological foundation in the management context due to its heterogeneity. This article investigates the nature of spiritual care in contemporary contexts and identifies its key elements from an integrative perspective using the holistic framework of Hinduism. The definition of spiritual care was derived by applying design science research and a novel integrative approach adapted from the Tarka method of the Hindu philosophical system. The proposed definition was validated by spiritual-care providers in the field. The proposed integrative definition will allow scholars to develop their own comprehensive definitions for practice and for contributions to the field. The expansion of the scope of spiritual care into domains like business will support the recognition of the positive outcomes of spiritually based interventions in the workplaces of the future.