University of Southern Denmark Personal Prayer in Patients Dealing with Chronic Illness (original) (raw)
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Personal prayer in patients dealing with chronic illness: a review of the research literature
Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2015
Background. Prayer is commonly used among patients for health purposes. Therefore, this review focused on three main questions: (1) why do people turn to prayer in times of illness?, (2) what are the main topics of their prayers?, and (3) how do they pray? Method. We undertook a systematic review of the literature by searching the databases PubMed, Medline, and PsycINFO. The following inclusion criteria were used: (1) participants in the study were patients dealing with an illness, (2) the study examined the use of private rather than intercessory prayer, and (3) the content and purpose of prayer rather than its effects were investigated. Results. 16 articles were included in the final review. Participants suffered from a variety of chronic diseases, mostly cancer. Five main categories for the reasons and topics of prayer were found: (1) disease-centered prayer, (2) assurance-centered prayer, (3) God-centered prayer, (4) others-centered prayer, and (5) lamentations. Among these, dis...
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2008
Objectives: At least 10.8 million living Americans have been diagnosed with cancer, and about 1.5 million new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2008. The purpose of this study was to examine prayer for health and self-reported health among a sample of men and women with a personal history of cancer. Methods: We used data from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, which collected information on complementary and alternative medicine practices. Results: Among 2262 men and women with a history of cancer, 68.5% reported having prayed for their own health and 72% reported good or better health status. Among cancer survivors, praying for one's own health was associated with several sociodemographic variables including being female, non-Hispanic black, and married. Compared to persons with a history of skin cancer, persons with a history of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, a cancer with a short survival period (e.g., pancreatic cancer), or other cancers were more likely to pray for their health. Persons who reported good or better health were more likely to be female, younger, have higher levels of education and income, and have no history of additional chronic disease. Overall, praying for one's own health was inversely associated with good or better health status. Conclusions: Data from this nationally representative sample indicate that prayer for health is commonly used among people with a history of cancer and that use of prayer varies by cancer site. The findings should add to the current body of literature that debates issues around spirituality, decision-making about treatment, and physician care.
Journal of Clinical Nursing, 2008
Aim. This critical review seeks to identify if there is evidence that private (personal) prayer is capable of improving wellbeing for adult patients in hospital. Background. The review was conducted in the belief that the spiritual needs of hospitalised patients may be enhanced by encouragement and support to engage in prayer. Design. Systematic review. Method. A systematic approach was used to gather evidence from published studies. In the absence of experimental research involving this type of population, evidence from qualitative and correlational studies was critically reviewed.
“I Heard the Voice. I Felt the Presence”: Prayer, Health and Implications for Clinical Practice
Research concerning the relation between physical health and prayer typically employs an outcome oriented paradigm and results are inconsistent. This is not surprising since prayer per se is not governed by physiological principles. More revealing and logically compelling, but more rare, is literature examining health and prayer from the perspective of the participants. The present study examines the health–prayer experience of 104 Christians in the United States. Data were collected through recorded video interviews and analyzed by means of content analysis. Results show that prayer is used as a context nuanced spiritual tool for: dealing with physical suffering (spiritual-religious coping); sustaining hope and spirituality via a sacred dimension; personal empowerment; self-transcendence. These findings demonstrate that practitioners primarily engage prayer at a spiritual rather than a physical level, underscoring the limitations of a biomedical or “Complementary and Alternative Medicine” perspective that conceptualizes prayer as a mechanism for intentionally improving physical health. In clinical practice, regarding the medical, psychotherapeutic, or pastoral, the challenge is to understand prayer through the framework of the practitioner, in order to affirm its potential in healthcare processes.
The effect of two praying methods on quality of life of hospitalized cancer patients
BACKGROUND: Improving quality of life (QoL) has been an important consideration in patients with chronic diseases such as cancer particularly in last two decades. Praying is a valuable nursing care to improve cancer patients' QoL. However, controversies still exist about the effect of different types of praying. This study was conducted to compare the impact of private and collective praying on cancer patients' QoL.
Prayer as a cause of recovery from illness.
This research aimed to examine the developmental trajectory of the beliefs about the power of prayer to aid recovery from illness. One hundred and sixty children and young adults divided in four age groups participated in the study. Participants were interviewed with vignettes presenting two sick individuals who differed in terms of prayers that they received from their friends in order to recover from their illness. The results showed that children and pre-adolescents strongly believe in the power of prayer to recover from illness while only about half of the university students share this belief. Thus, contrary to the framework theory approach, children, adolescents, and young adults did not replace these beliefs (as naive explanations), with the scientific explanations. Instead, they continue to hold these beliefs in parallel to their scientific explanations.
Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research, 2010
Life quality and its promotional strategies among patients with acute and debilitating diseases, especially cancer, have been considered from a long time ago by medical and nursing societies. One of the methods to promote the patient's life quality is spiritual care which can be in form of prayer. The results of the studies done about the choice of the best praying method for the patients involves a lot of challenges. Thus, the researchers decided to examine the effect of two individual and choral praying methods on the life quality of the cancer-stricken patients. The present study was conducted in two-staged clinical trial using pre-post test administration in which the researcher examined the effect of two individual and choral praying methods on the life quality of 70 cancer-stricken patients. Data collection to assess the life quality was performed by World Health Organization Brief Life Quality Questionnaire. The current research showed that the life quality score was incr...
To pray or not to pray: Reflections on the intersection of prayer and medicine
Journal of Religion & Health, 1995
Recent medical studies documenting the influence of prayer in our physical lives challenge mainstream Christians to rethink their ideas and practice of prayer. A new model of prayer questions dysfunctional images of prayer based on 1) the doctrine of divine omnipotence, 2) the rewards-punishments notion of health and illness, and 3) linear notions of the power of prayer. Relational, holistic, and multidimensional images of God, human existence, and the effects of prayer provide the basis for a constructive theology of prayer. Ironically, the fact that prayer is not omnipotent makes it possible to practice prayer in a technological context.
Effectiveness of prayer in reducing anxiety in cancer patients
Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP, 2014
Objective: To evaluate the effect of prayer on anxiety in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Method: Quasi-experimental study, with pre and post-intervention. Twenty patients admitted to treatment of continuous intravenous chemotherapy were recruited. The volunteers were evaluated through interviews using a questionnaire of sociodemographic, clinical and spiritual characteristics, the Index of Religiosity Duke University and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Vital signs were measured and collected salivary cortisol. The intervention was applied prayer and data collection occurred in three phases: first collection (baseline), pre and post-intervention. Results: The data found between the pre and post-intervention samples showed different statistically significant for state anxiety (p= <0.00), blood pressure (systolic, p=0.00, diastolic, p=<0.00) and respiratory rate (p=0.04). Conclusion: Prayer, therefore, proved to be an effective strategy in reducing the anxiety of the...