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Spiritual support for people living with HIV / AIDS : A B razilian explorative, descriptive study
Author(s) -
Caixeta Camila Roberto da Costa Borges,
Nascimento Lucila Castanheira,
Pedro Iara Cristina da Silva,
Rocha Semiramis Melani Melo
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
nursing and health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.563
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1442-2018
pISSN - 1441-0745
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-2018.2012.00705.x
Subject(s) - spirituality , feeling , faith , qualitative research , psychology , exploratory research , meaning (existential) , descriptive research , content analysis , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , social support , nursing , medicine , social psychology , psychotherapist , sociology , family medicine , alternative medicine , theology , social science , philosophy , pathology , anthropology
In this exploratory and descriptive research, we identified the meaning of religion and spirituality in the experience of patients at a public health service for treatment of HIV / AIDS in a B razilian upcountry town. Eight participants were selected through theoretical sampling. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, and analyzed by means of qualitative content analysis. The emerging themes were religion: a path to support, and G od is everything. Religion, as a path that leads patients to different sources of support, included exploration of different churches, acknowledgment of guilt, and finding strength to cope with the disease, rationalization of the disease process, meeting other churchgoers, and finding G od and faith. G od, an important source of support, was present in prayers, in the belief in healing through faith, and in the feeling of comfort and relief. Because spirituality and religion were seen as important sources of support, in this study we that health professionals include these aspects in care planning.