There is strong consensus that spirituality is an important aspect of care for patients and family caregivers facing serious illness or at the end of life. However, there is a paucity of well-described spiritual assessment models.

The Spiritual-AIM is an intervention based on the concept that healing happens in relationships and that all humans have three core spiritual needs:
- a need for meaning and direction;
- a need to feel self-worth and belonging to community; and
- a need to love and be loved, including seeking reconciliation for broken relationships when needed.

Spiritual AIM provides a conceptual framework for a chaplain to diagnose an individual's primary unmet spiritual need, devise and implement a plan for addressing this need through embodiment/relationship, and articulate and evaluate the desired and actual outcome of the intervention.

Note It is necessary to differentiate two terms:
Spiritual screening consist in a set of questions about a patient’s faith, the need for assistance and/or resources to address spiritual needs addressed. Such screens do help identify the need for a professional chaplain and can lead to appropriate referrals from other health care providers.
Spiritual assessment is an evolving dialogue aimed to diagnose the patient's unmet spiritual need and to devise a plan to address that need. It should only be completed by a professionally trained chaplain

See reference for more information.

Adapted from Shields M; Kestenbaum A; Dunn LB. Spiritual AIM and the work of the chaplain: a model for assessing spiritual needs and outcomes in relationship. Palliative and Supportive Care. Internet. Accessed on February 6, 2018.