Spiritual well-being and quality of life in patients with spinal cord injury: A study from Iran

Objective To assess the relationship between spiritual well-being and health-related quality of life (QOL) among patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). Setting Brain and SCI Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Methods This was a cross-sectional study. A sample of patients with SCI participated in the study and completed two questionnaires: the Short-Form 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36) in order to collect data on vitality, social functioning, mental health and role emotional and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) to measure religious and existential well-being. The association between spiritual well-being and health-related QOL was then assessed. Results In all 213 patients were studied. The mean age of patients was 43.5 (SD = 10.8) years, and most were male (77.5%). The results obtained from generalized linear regression analysis indicated that religious well-being and existential well-being were significant contributing factors to improved vitality, social functioning, mental health and role emotional. Conclusion The findings suggest that having higher levels of spiritual well-being might improve quality of life in people with spinal cord injury.

A Qualitative Investigation of Graduate-Student Changes Associated With Multicultural Counseling Courses

The critical incidents technique was used to gather information from graduate students about the changes they experienced connected to their participation in multicultural counseling courses. Trainees were also asked what course elements were linked to their personal changes. Racial and ethnic differences in response frequencies were analyzed. A diverse sample of 124 trainees from a variety of graduate programs participated in this Web-based qualitative survey. Trainees reported changes in terms of increased knowledge, increased self-understanding, attitude, and behavior and attributed these changes to didactic, interactive, and reflective activities, the influence of the instructor, and the course as a whole. The identified themes are illustrated through the use of the trainees' own words. Chi-square analyses found no differences between students of color and White students in types of changes reported or elements reported as catalysts for changes. The implications of these findings for the future of multicultural counseling training are discussed.