This paper aims to explicate the essence of spiritual engagement from the perspective of palliative care clients and their caregivers. Van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological approach guided this study. In-depth interviews of 14 rural Australian participants with experience of a life-limiting condition provided rich discourse of the lived experience of spiritual engagement. This research highlights spiritual engagement represented in a relational model developed from a creative synthesis of the emerging themes. Spiritual engagement is associated with 'personal transformation', 'human values of love, compassion and altruism', 'maintaining relationships', 'participating in religious practices' and 'culture'. The findings of this research are supported by Mayes' observations on spirituality, that is, the 'pursuit of a trans-personal and trans-temporal reality that serves as the ontological ground for an ethic of compassion and service'.
The aims of this article are to explore the experience of depression among palliative care clients and caregivers, describe the strategies they use in coping with depression, and clarify the role of spirituality in preventing and/or overcoming depression. This article discusses an aspect of the findings of a larger doctoral study that explored the nature of spirituality and spiritual engagement from the viewpoint of individuals with life-limiting conditions and their caregivers. van Manen's phenomenology was used in the study. The data generated from the doctoral study were subjected to secondary analysis to uncover the experience of depression. The methodology underpinning the secondary analysis was phenomenology also by van Manen. Fourteen clients and caregivers from across regional and rural South Australia informed the study. Data collection involved in-depth nonstructured home-based interviews that were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. The findings highlighted relate to participants succumbing to depression, but having spiritual beliefs and practices helped them cope. One of the most insightful understanding was the role spirituality played in protecting individuals from depression, encapsulated in the theme "finding paradise within." Spirituality, understood from a religious or secular perspective, must be embedded in palliative care as it assisted in preventing and overcoming depression.
Objective: The attention given to spirituality has dramatically increased, especially in contemporary western society, because of its significant link to good health and well-being. Spirituality has relevance for individuals with life-limiting conditions. It is heightened when individuals encounter this predicament. The purpose of this research was to determine the essence of the lived experience of spirituality and spiritual engagement from the perspective of palliative care clients and caregivers. One of the objectives was to understand the reasons why they engage in spiritual matters and this is the focus of the paper.
Methods:A qualitative approach, based on van Manen's theoretical framework of hermeneutic phenomenology, was chosen for this research. This approach enabled human experience to be studied as it was lived and examined to the fullest breadth, depth and extent through a dynamic interplay of several research activities. In-depth interviews of four (4) palliative care clients and ten (10) caregivers from regional and rural Australia provided rich experiential discourse of what motivated them to engage in spiritual matters.
Results:The driving force that motivated the study participants to engage in spirituality was the benefits they might derive in the process of spiritual engagement. The motivations for spiritual engagement could be categorised as intrinsic and/or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation, defined as the innate propensity to engage one's interest in spirituality and satisfy spiritual needs, included "to have peace and acceptance", "to seek healing", "to be able to cope", and "to find positive meaning in illness and suffering". Extrinsic motivation, which comes from external influences and events that constitute the incentives and consequences to pursue spirituality, included "to communicate love and concern", "to better care for the loved one", "to build intimate relationships", and "to provide comfort to others". Once the drive or motivation arose, behavior was energised to engage in spiritual matters, reaping both self-serving and altruistic benefits.Conclusions: Spirituality provided many real and potential benefits for those who engaged in it. Simply put, it helped participants cope. It becomes imperative for nurses and other health professionals to pay attention to these phenomena. The implications of this study relate to clinical practice and the educational preparation of nurses and other health professionals involved in caring for people with life-limiting conditions.
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