The Roles of Spirituality in People Living with HIV/AIDS: A Qualitative Meta-synthesis

Abstract

The Roles of Spirituality in People Living with HIV/AIDS: A Qualitative Meta-synthesis T he spread of HIV/AIDS continues to be a major problem for public health around the world. People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) steadily climbed from 35.6 to 36.9 million between 2015 and 2017, with 940,000 people dying from HIV/AIDS during the aforementioned period. 1 Similarly, the number of PLWHA in Thailand increased from 445,000 to 450,000 with approximately 15,000 people dying from HIV/ AIDS during the abovementioned period. 2 Due to the increasing numbers of people receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV-related deaths have dropped by 38%, 1 and AIDS has changed into a chronic disease drawing new challenges for health care providers. 3 PLWHA are faced with stressful life events related to the illness including physical health problems resulting from declining immune status, psychological distress related to stress, anxiety and depression, social isolation due to social stigma, fear and uncertainty about death, loss of self-control, self-blame, internalized conflict, and hopelessness. 3-9 The aforementioned problems might lead PLWHA to become spiritually distressed and commit suicide. 4,6,9 Spirituality is a broad concept consisting of several key features and it is the source of human beings that can help people to accept themselves and their illness, find meaning and purpose in life, create inner strength, maintain hope, improve the sense of selftrancendence, create relationships and connect with other people as well as a higher power, divine or God. 3,8,9-11 Moreover, spirituality can play a vital role in supporting PLWHA. According to the studies of Ironson et al (2006), 12 Ironson et al (2016), 13 and Black and Slavice (2016) 14 it was found that spirituality/religiousness significantly correlated with better CD4 cell count and controlling of viral load. Consequently, spirituality has a significant effect on controlling disease symptoms and slowing the progression of disease, 5,15 while ensuring life-satisfaction, quality of life, well-being, 5,16 and long-term survival. 13 According to the literature review, limited research studies have been conducted in Thailand about the role of spirituality among PLWHA. Most research studies were quantitative research studies and focused on the

Integrative Review for Factors Related to Family Functioning in the Family Living with the Children with Thalassemia

“…Also, it can promote empathic relationships towards each other such as comforting family members, showing them attention and care, openness to the family member's attitudes and feelings, and honoring them. 4,14,24 The same is true in the study by Chaiyasit et al, 24 that found that people living with HIV/AIDS perceived the role of spirituality as enhancing the feeling of peace and happiness, inner strength, self-acceptance and understanding of illness, promoting self-care, increasing a sense of compassion, maintaining hope and giving meaning to their lives. This reflects a spiritual anchor to help the family maintain and improve their family functioning to transcend the difficult time of living with children with thalassemia.…”

“…This perception influences the feeling of trust in a higher power and this feels more comfortable since the family believes that everything that happens and will happen in the future has already been determined by supernatural power or belief in religion they respect. 24 Illness belief: Illness belief has been instituted over a long time through the interaction or communication within a family by the family elders' teaching. 25 This means it has been deeply rooted and often constitutes the basis for an individual's identity.…”

Faktor Demografi, Faktor Penyakit, dan Faktor Psikologis terhadap Makna Spiritual Pengalaman Sakit pada ODHA

“…Gambaran responden memungkinkan kurangnya pengetahuan tentang penyakit HIV religius dan spiritual karena kurang terpapar informasi keagamaan, serta penyerapan informasi belum optimal (Anetor, 2019;Jayani & Ruffaida, 2020). Religiusitas dan spiritualitas dapat meningkatkan kedamaian dan kebahagiaan, menumbuhkan kekuatan batin, menambah pemahaman terhadap penyakit dan penerimaan diri, meningkatkan motivasi perawatan diri, menemukan arti dan tujuan hidup, memelihara asa dan menciptakan hubungan dan rasa keterkaitan terhadap sesama dan yang lebih penting hubungan dan keterkaitan dengan Maha Pencipta (Chaiyasit et al, 2019).…”

Analisis Hubungan Faktor Demografi, Faktor Penyakit, Dan Faktor Psikologis Dengan Makna Spiritual Pengalaman Sakit

“…Religius dan spiritual karena kurang terpapar informasi keagamaan, serta penyerapan informasi belum optimal (Jayani & Ruffaida, 2020). Religiusitas dan spiritualitas dapat meningkatkan kedamaian dan kebahagiaan, menumbuhkan kekuatan batin, menambah pemahaman terhadap penyakit dan penerimaan diri, meningkatkan motivasi perawatan diri, menemukan arti dan tujuan hidup, memelihara asa dan menciptakan hubungan dan rasa keterkaitan terhadap sesama, dan yang lebih penting hubungan dan keterkaitan dengan Maha Pencipta (Chaiyasit, Thong-on, Piboonrungroj, & Kotta, 2019).…”