Abstract
Spirituality plays an important role in coping with chronic diseases. However, the meaning of spirituality is not known in hemophilia, as a chronic disease. This study aimed to explore the essence of spirituality in hemophilia patients. This qualitative study with a hermeneutic phenomenological approach was conducted on twelve Muslim adult hemophilia patients. The participants were selected using purposeful sampling. The data were gathered through interview. Then, the data were analyzed using thematic analysis and van Manen’s methodological framework. MAX.QDA qualitative software package 2010 was used to import the transcripts and analyze the data. Four themes were identified: “relationship with God,” “God as the fulcrum,” “strong religious beliefs,” and “spiritual satisfaction.” “Relationship with God” meant “to ask God for help” and “praying for oneself and others.” “God as the fulcrum” consisted of two subthemes, i.e., “hope in God” and “Trust in God.” “Strong religious beliefs” also included “belief in openness of God’s mercy,” “belief in God and the omnipotence of God,” and “belief in creation by God.” Finally, “spiritual satisfaction” consisted of two subthemes, namely “accepting the providence” and “thanking the divine blessings.” Spirituality in hemophilia patients meant having relationship with God who was considered as the fulcrum, strong religious beliefs, and spiritual satisfaction. By understanding the hemophilia patients’ spirituality experiences, the nurses and healthcare workers could provide holistic care focused on spirituality. Yet, more studies are recommended to be conducted on hemophilia patients to explore spirituality in other religions.
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Acknowledgements
This article was extracted from Masoume Rambod’s PhD dissertation in Nursing (Proposal No. 93-7081), which was approved and financially supported by the Research Vice-chancellor of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The authors would like to thank the personnel of the hemophilia clinic in Dastgheib hospital affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences for their cooperation. They are also grateful for all the participants who kindly contributed their time to this research. The authors would like to thank Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, and also Center for Development of Clinical Research of Nemazee Hospital and Dr. Nasrin Shokrpour for editorial assistance.
Funding
This study was funded by Research Vice-chancellor of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (Grant Number: 93-7081).
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The study was designed by MR, FS, ZM, and KK. The interviews were conducted by MR. The data were analyzed by MR and FS. The manuscript was written by MR, FS, ZM, and KK. All the authors critically reviewed the early drafts of the manuscript and agreed with the final version.
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This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (EC-9371-7081, date: 9 July 2014). Moreover, all procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Informed consent was obtained from all the participants included in the study.
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Rambod, M., Sharif, F., Molazem, Z. et al. Spirituality Experiences in Hemophilia Patients: A Phenomenological Study. J Relig Health 58, 992–1002 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0621-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0621-3