Evaluation of Religious Coping in Tunisian Muslim Women with Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer

The Role of Islamic Beliefs in Facilitating Acceptance of Cancer Diagnosis

Although survival rates for patients with cancer have increased, this disease continues to affect couples significantly. Religion and culture seem to be part of the therapeutic process for people with cancer. Despite the abundance of the Arab Muslim community in Western countries, there is a lack of documented data on Arab Muslim couples experiencing cancer. A simple exploratory qualitative study was conducted through semi-structured interviews on six married couples (n = 12) identifying with the Arab Muslim culture and being affected by cancer. An iterative data analysis was performed. Results were reported under the following themes: accepting illness through coping strategies provided by Muslim religious beliefs and practices, experiencing problems with the expression of needs and feelings within the couple, experiencing closeness within the family, and experiencing illness in the hospital setting as Muslims. Our results show that Islamic beliefs can facilitate acceptance of a cancer diagnosis. It is also noted that religion seems to unite spouses in supporting each other and maintaining hope in a difficult context. Communication issues may persist between a couple due to stressors related to cancer. The results of this study could raise awareness about the importance of exploring religious and spiritual beliefs when supporting couples affected by cancer.

Rehabilitation interventions for depression symptoms among cancer patients in Palestine: A systematic review

Background

Depression enhances the disease burden in patients with cancer. Psychological interventions and the rehabilitation of depression are required as a part of palliative care for cancer patients to improve their quality of life and mental health.The aim of the study was to review the literature about depression rehabilitation interventions among patients with cancer in Palestine.

Method

The electronic databases used: PubMed, Science Direct, Research Gate, and Google Scholar to search for systematic review articles for the review study.

Results

A total of 23 articles were reviewed, including five from Palestine and five from Arab and Islamic nations. Pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions used to decrease symptoms of depression and enhance mental health among cancer patients represent the majority of interventions for depression rehabilitation in cancer patients. Interventions for depression rehabilitation among cancer patients in Palestine are only available from the perspective of palliative care, which also involves family education, managing the symptoms of cancer patients, and providing psychological support.

Conclusion

In Palestine, non-pharmacological interventions, such as psychological interventions, are the primary options for treating and recovering from symptoms of depression. The management of symptoms in cancer patients also has a favorable impact on mental health and recovery from depression. In Palestine, there is a need for improvement in palliative care, particularly interventions for depressive symptoms. The main reason Palestinian patients with cancer have such limited treatment and recovery options are because of Israeli occupation.

Exploring the psychological and religious perspectives of cancer patients and their future financial planning: a Q-methodological approach

BACKGROUND

Cancer patients are often hesitant to talk about their mental health, religious beliefs regarding the disease, and financial issues that drain them physically and psychologically. But there is a need to break this taboo to understand the perceptions and behaviours of the patients. Previous studies identified many psychological factors that are bothering cancer patients. However, it still requires exploring new elements affecting their mental and physical health and introducing new coping strategies to address patients' concerns.

METHODS

The current study aims to identify cancer patients' perceived attitudes towards the severity of illness, understand their fears, tend towards religion to overcome the disease, and future financial planning by using a Q-methodological approach. Data were collected in three steps from January-June 2020, and 51 cancer patients participated in the final stage of Q-sorting.

RESULTS

The findings of the study are based on the principal component factor analysis that highlighted three essential factors: (1) feelings, (2) religious beliefs about the acceptance of death, and (3) their future personal and financial planning. Further, the analysis shows that the patients differ in their beliefs, causes and support that they received as a coping mechanism.

CONCLUSION

This study explains cancer patients' psychological discomfort and physical pain but cannot relate it to co-morbidities. Q methodology allows the contextualization of their thoughts and future planning in different sets, like acceptance of death, combating religion's help, and sharing experiences through various platforms. This study will help health professionals derive new coping strategies for treating patients and financial managers to design insurance policies that help them to share their financial burdens.

Social Support Is Linked to Post-Traumatic Growth among Tunisian Postoperative Breast Cancer Women

The struggle with breast cancer (BC) is often associated with positive changes after diagnosis and treatment, that are being referred to as posttraumatic growth (PTG). We aimed to examine PTG and its relationship with psychosocial (i.e., psychological distress, spiritual well-being, social support), sociodemographic and cancer-related variables in Tunisian women operated on for breast cancer. This was a cross-sectional study. Seventy-nine (79) postoperative BC women were administered the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory, the Spiritual Well-being Scale, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. The changes most frequently reported by participants were discovering that they were stronger than they thought they were (70.0%), having stronger religious faith (65.0%), and being better able to accept the way things work out (63.8%). Multivariate analysis showed that anxiety and social support remained significantly associated with PTG, while no significant relationship has been found for spiritual well-being. Overall, the present study adds to the existing body of research by identifying factors related to women’ s experience of PTG in a previously unexplored Arab Muslim cultural context, Tunisia. We believe that our findings may help inform strategies aiming at promoting positive psychological changes after experiencing BC, at least in our context.