Spirituality and the Illness Experience: Perspectives of African American Older Adults.
Shaunna Siler, Kelly Arora, Katherine Doyon and 1 others
PMID 33461330WHAT IT FOUND
African American older adults with chronic illness described faith and church as central to coping and healthcare decisions.
Many distrusted providers, wanted trusted advocates, and would welcome palliative care education in churches.
Key findings
01The most common spiritual coping style was collaborative, and some participants considered God a member of their healthcare team.
02Participants reported racial inequality, mistrust of healthcare professionals, and difficulty accessing resources as social struggles.
0360% of participants had not heard palliative care as separate from hospice care, and 90% would welcome palliative care education in a church-based setting.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included only 50 participants, and only 6 were family caregivers. The 5 churches were within 20 miles of each other in the Denver metropolitan area. The churches represented only some Christian perspectives and were not spiritually diverse. Health ministry representatives participated in the focus groups. This type of focus group study may not be easily replicated in churches without support or health ministry leadership. The study described perspectives and did not test an intervention, so it cannot show that church-based palliative care education improves trust or palliative care use.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the finding that 90% of participants would welcome palliative care education as evidence that church-based palliative care education improves trust or palliative care use. The study described perspectives and did not test an intervention.