The use of religious/spiritual coping among patients with cancer undergoing chemotherapy treatment

OBJECTIVE: to investigate the use of religious/spiritual coping among people with cancer undergoing chemotherapy. METHODS: a quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study of 101 patients undergoing intravenous chemotherapy in an oncology outpatients center in a public hospital in Minas Gerais, made in the first semester of 2011. For data collection, an interview was held, using a questionnaire for characterizing the sample and the Brief Spiritual/Religious Coping Scale. RESULTS: all subjects made use of religious/spiritual coping (mean=3.67; sd=0.37); the younger individuals, those with no religion and those who consider spiritual support unimportant tend to use coping negatively; individuals who would like to receive spiritual support and who participate in support groups for cancer patients, on the other hand, use coping positively. CONCLUSIONS: the study reinforces that religious/spiritual coping is an important strategy for coping with cancer, and contributes to an understanding of the same as a useful tool for spiritual care.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Mesquita,Ana Cláudia, Chaves,Érika de Cássia Lopes, Avelino,Carolina Costa Valcanti, Nogueira,Denismar Alves, Panzini,Raquel Gerhke, Carvalho,Emilia Campos de
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto / Universidade de São Paulo 2013
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-11692013000200539
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