Spiritual Growth Aspects among Caregivers of Children with Cancer

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021

A child’s cancer, as a life-threatening illness, is classified as a traumatic event both for the child him-/herself and for his/her relatives. Struggling with a traumatic experience can bring positive consequences for an individual, which is referred to as posttraumatic growth. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between posttraumatic growth and spirituality understood as a personal resource in mothers of children with pediatric cancer. In total, 55 mothers whose children were in the phase of treatment and who had been staying with them in the hospital filled in a Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, Self-description Questionnaire of Spirituality, and the author’s short questionnaire on demographic variables and information on the child and his/her disease. A high level of posttraumatic development, especially in the area of life appreciation, was observed in the examined mothers. Spirituality was positively related to the emergence of positive change, in two particular...

European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 2019

Family caregivers of children with cancer face emotional, psychological, and spiritual challenges coping with their child's illness. For ensuring comprehensive multidisciplinary pediatric care, there is a need to understand and define what spirituality means for them in relation to their child's illness. The purpose of this study is to understand the meaning of spirituality for parents of cancer patients in Lebanon. Methods: This qualitative study followed the Heideggerian interpretive phenomenological method. Through purposeful sampling, 11 parents (mother or father) of children with cancer receiving treatment at a tertiary care center in Beirut, Lebanon were interviewed. Data were analyzed following the hermeneutical process as described by Diekelmann and Ironside (1998). Results: A constitutive pattern and overarching theme, "spirituality is a two-level relationship. It is a relation with God and with people. It is the act of receiving and giving back" and five major themes emerged from the data. These were "Being there for me; " "Connectedness with other parents is a blessing and a torment; " "The power of knowing; " "Communication with Unknown" and "Spirituality is not religiosity". Conclusion: Lebanese parents of children with cancer defined the elements of their own spirituality. Relational aspects dominated and communication was an important factor. Implications for practice: This is the first study in the Middle East to address the meaning of spirituality in this population, and would pave the way for a customized palliative care program and integrative approach to patient care.

International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health

Background: In Indonesia, the prevalence of cancer up to 1.4 per 1000 population. Acute lymphocyte leukemia is one of type of cancers. Sspirituality is an element that increasing and is recognized by many patients with the disease at an advanced stage. Assessment of spirituality in children acute lymphocyte leukemia had ever done by the researcher before shows that spirituality contributes a positive influence to the coping and the achievement of adaptation. Aim of this research was to know how the relationship between spirituality with quality of life in children with cancer.Methods: This study used a mixed design (mixed method), with sequential explanatory strategy. Quantitative approach to the cross-sectional design and in- depth interviews in qualitative data collection. Research has received permission from the The Medical and Health Research Ethics Committee (MHREC).Results: There is a relationship between spirituality and the quality of life of children with cancer with a tot...

Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP, 2018

Background: Pediatric cancer causes reduced life quality and psychological problems for parents. It is necessary to pay attention to spirituality, which plays a significant role in increasing the life quality of these parents and their patient children and managing the conditions associated with the disease. This study was performed to determine factors predisposing to spiritual care in parents of children suffering from cancer. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted by conventional content analysis. Fifteen parents of children with cancer hospitalized in the oncology and hematology wards of governmental hospitals in Iran were selected using a purposive sampling method and underwent semi-structured deep interviews from 2015.1.10 until 2017.3.10. Results: On data analysis, 12 subcategories emerged leading to extraction of three : “projection”, “mental concern”, and “psychological pains”. The final result was a focus on the theme “psychological limbo”. Conclusion: Our findings ...

Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention : APJCP, 2018

Background: Due to the rise in prevalence of childhood cancer the impact on family caregivers is increasing. Spirituality may be an alleviating factor for improving the quality of parent life. There is a lack of organized spiritual care in health care facilities, so that this aspect needs more emphasis. Thus this study aimed to evaluate the spiritual strategy of parents of children with cancer. Materials: This qualitative study was conducted with a conventional content analysis approach. Fifteen parents of hospitalized children with cancer at the Oncology and Hematology departments of governmental pediatric hospitals nationwide were purposefully selected. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted for data collection and inductive content analysis. Results: Eleven sub-themes were extracted in the data analysis, which resulted in the generation of three themes: “spiritual strategy,” “spiritual escape” and “spiritual growth”. Conclusion: The spiritual approach of parents of ch...

Family Medicine & Primary Care Review

Background. Cancer creates a crisis for families. in children oncology, parental care is an important priority of the home-care approach. Parents' education is essential for the continuance of child care. Objectives. This study was conducted to determine the effect of spiritual care based on the Sound Heart Model on the care burden of families of children with cancer. Material and methods. In a randomized controlled trial, 72 families of children with cancer were selected according to inclusion criteria. In the educational support system, spiritual care based on the Sound Heart Model was carries out. Training spiritual skills was conducted through virtual education within the social network, along with the donation of educational software. The purpose of spiritual care was: creating optimism, hope and courage to face the disease through faith therapy, spiritual self-awareness and development of social communication by forgiveness training, using the blessings of nature. The development of relationships with God, self people and nature was advised. The care burden questionnaire was completed by parents in the intervention and control groups before and immediately after intervention. The data was analyzed. Results. There was no significant difference between the level of parents' care burden before intervention in the two groups (p = 0.523). After intervention, the care burden of the intervention group was significantly decreased compared to the control group (p < 0.001), and there was no significant change in the control group (p = 0.415). Conclusions. This study showed that spiritual care decreased the level of parents' care burden. The use of the model to meet the spiritual needs of the family of children with cancer is suggested.

Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, 2016

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of a spiritual care training package in maternal caregivers of children with cancer. Materials and Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental study with pretest and posttest design consisting of a sample of 42 mothers of children diagnosed as having cancer. Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. The training package consisted of seven group training sessions offered in a children's hospital in Tehran. All mothers completed the Spirituality & Spiritual Care Rating Scale (SSCRS) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) at pre and post test and after a three month follow up. Results: There was significant difference between anxiety and spiritual, religious, Personalized care and total scores spiritual care between the intervention and control groups at follow-up (P<0.001).There was no statistically significant difference in stress and depression scores between the intervention and the control groups at follow-up. Conclusions: Findings show that spiritual care training program promotes spirituality, personalized care, religiosity and spiritual care as well as decreasing anxiety in mothers of children with cancer and decreases anxiety. It may be concluded that spiritual care training could be used effectively in reducing distressful spiritual challenges in mothers of children with cancer.

Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 2018

Spirituality has been defined in different ways, such as the search for the sacred matter, meaning, and the purpose of life, engaging in divine and transcendental affairs beyond the material life. [2,3] Also, spirituality is considered to be a set of values, attitudes, and hopes that are related to the universe and guide a person's life and is especially related to experiences that put the person

Palliative and Supportive Care, 2021

Objective Considering the risk of spiritual distress among terminally ill patients, experts long agree that spiritual care has to be an integral component of palliative care. Despite this consensus, the role of spirituality among family caregivers remains largely unexplored. We aimed to describe how spirituality manifests in the lived experience of family caregivers (FCs) in a palliative care context. Method As part of a secondary analysis, data derived from two qualitative primary studies on FCs’ burdens and needs in the context of caring for a patient with a diagnosis of incurable cancer. Previously transcribed interviews were examined by means of a thematic analysis, transcending the focus of the primary studies to examine how spirituality arises and/or persists in the life of FCs from the time of diagnosis of incurable cancer up until bereavement. Results Twenty-nine narratives were explored and all included spirituality as a relevant theme. Analysis revealed four aspects associ...

Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem

Objective: To understand the spiritual needs of the patients&#39; family caregiver under Oncology palliative care. Method: A descriptive, qualitative study with 20 family caregivers of patients hospitalized in an Oncology palliative unit. The data were collected through a phenomenological interview, and analyzed by the method of Amadeo Giorgi supported in the Merleau-Ponty&#39;s Phenomenology of Perception. Results: The categories were unveiled: &quot;Spirituality as a foundation for life&quot;; &quot;Spiritual needs sublimated by the family caregiver&quot;; and &quot;Care expected by the nurse&quot;. Conclusion: Family caregivers appropriate spirituality as a coping strategy and meeting the purpose and meaning of the moment experienced. It is profitable for the nurse to contemplate the spiritual needs of the caregiver in order to provide a guided assistance in the humanization of care and comprehensive care. Therefore, there is a need for new studies that address this dimension to ...