Randomized Controlled Trial Study of the Impact of a Spiritual Intervention on Hope and Spiritual Well-Being of Persons with Cancer.
Ardashir Afrasiabifar, Asadollah Mosavi, Abolfazl Taghipour Jahromi and 1 others
PMID 34822235WHAT IT FOUND
A five-session spiritual care program, delivered by an oncology nurse with spiritual counselor support, increased hope and spiritual well-being scores in cancer patients before chemotherapy compared with usual care.
Key findings
01After intervention, global hope and the factor and strategy subscales were significantly different between the intervention and control groups.
02Within the intervention group, global hope changed by a mean difference of 13.7, factor by 6.6, and strategy by 7.2, and these changes were significant.
03Within the intervention group, global spiritual well-being changed by 21.7, existential well-being by 12.4, and religious well-being by 9.2, while the control group showed no significant mean differences.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
It was done in one chemotherapy ward in Iran, and all participants were Muslims with the same belief system. Only patients who were aware of their diagnosis and had low baseline hope and spiritual well-being were included. Eighty patients were assigned, but 74 completed the study; 4 died and 2 were reluctant to continue. The intervention was a bundle of nurse-delivered sessions, spiritual counselor support, and several strategies, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The control group received usual care only, not an attention-matched comparison. The sessions were given before starting chemotherapy, so the study does not show effects later in treatment or at end of life.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that nurse-delivered spiritual care alone improves hope or spiritual well-being for all patients with cancer. The study was in one chemotherapy ward with Muslim patients, and the intervention included a nurse with spiritual counselor support plus multiple session strategies, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.