Does Spiritual Well-Being Affect Medication Adherence in Individuals Diagnosed with Mental Illness in Turkey?

The relationship between perceived stress, spiritual well-being and alexithymia in people with epilepsy: A path analysis

AIM

The present study was performed to investigate the associations among perceived stress, spiritual well-being, and alexithymia in people with epilepsy.

METHOD

The study was performed with 140 patients diagnosed with epilepsy in the neurology clinic of a training and research hospital between May and December 2022. Personal Information Form, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT Sp-12), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) were used to collect the data. Descriptive statistical methods, simple and multiple regression analyses, and path analysis were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

The mean scores of the patients were 25.51±9.42 for PSS-14, 29.77±8.33 for FACIT Sp-12, and 56.55±16.87 for TAS-20. Concerning direct effects, a negative association was found between perceived stress and spiritual well-being, a positive association between perceived stress and alexithymia, and a negative association between spiritual well-being and alexithymia. The confirmed mediating effect was the role of spiritual well-being in the association between perceived stress and alexithymia. Perceived stress explained 28 % of spiritual well-being. In addition, the model explained 34 % of alexithymia in total.

CONCLUSION

Perceived stress levels of people with epilepsy were low, while alexithymia and spiritual well-being levels were found to be moderate. It was found that as the stress levels perceived by people with epilepsy increased, alexithymia levels also increased. It was also found that the negative impact of perceived stress on alexithymia was reduced through spiritual well-being. The study shows how important spiritual well-being is in decreasing the negative impacts of perceived stress on alexithymia in people with epilepsy.

Therapeutic Adherence of People with Mental Disorders: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis

Patient therapeutic adherence lies at the core of mental health care. Health Care professionals and organizations play a major role in promoting adherence among people with mental disorders. However, defining therapeutic adherence remains complex. We used Rodgers' evolutionary concept analysis to explore the concept of therapeutic adherence in the context of mental health. We conducted a systematic literature search on Medline/PubMed and CINAHL for works published between January 2012 and December 2022. The concept analysis showed that major attributes of therapeutic adherence include patient, microsystem and meso/exosystem-level factors. Antecedents are those related to patients, such as their background, beliefs and attitudes, and acceptance of mental illness-and those related to patient-HCP therapeutic engagement. Lastly, three different consequences of the concept emerged: an improvement in clinical and social outcomes, commitment to treatment, and the quality of healthcare delivery. We discuss an operational definition that emerged from the concept analysis approach. However, considering the concept has undergone evolutionary changes, further research related to patient adherence experiences in an ecological stance is needed.

Religious Practices and Spiritual Well-Being of Schizophrenia: Muslim Perspective

Purpose

To explore religious activities and its functions on the spiritual wellbeing of Muslim patients with schizophrenia.

Patients and Methods

Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted in six schizophrenia inpatients and two female nurses. Document analysis of the standard operating procedure related to patients' spiritual needs fulfilment and patients' medical records were also undertaken in order to triangulate data and to get insights about patient spiritual and religious activity. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data.

Results

Five themes and 12 sub themes were revealed from the study data. The five themes elicited from the study namely frequency, timing, barriers to perform religious activities, impact on health status and negative effects if not performing the religious activities. Religious activities such as salat and dhikr for schizophrenia inpatients are still performed five times a day and when they are not getting period. Feeling upset, restless, happy, grateful, and when they are missing their family was the common reason why patients perform the religious activities. The main barriers to performing salat and dhikr for example: insufficient prayer tools and Al-Qur'an, as well as patients' physical conditions. Religious activities such as salat and dhikr positively impact patients' physical and mental health status, mindfulness, and concentration. Negative impacts physical and emotional are released when patients did not perform salat and dhikr.

Conclusion

The findings show that salat and dhikr which perform on time and regularly have a positive impact on the physical and mental health of schizophrenia inpatients. The author might recommend the mental health hospital provide adequate worship or prayer equipment (gown and Al-Qur`an) for patients.

Nurses' spiritual well-being and the COVID-19 pandemic: A Thematic Approach

AIMS

This study explores nurses' perceived spiritual well-being in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND

Nurses have been working heavy shifts under challenging workplace conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to anxiety and psychological stress. These various challenges at work place their spiritual well-being at risk.

DESIGN

Thematic qualitative approach.

METHODS

An unstructured individual online interview was conducted to collect data from 18 nurses from April to August 2021. Data were analyzed using the thematic approach.

RESULTS

This study highlighted the four themes of spiritual well-being of nurses, namely, "Trust in God," "spiritual encouragement," "spiritual attributes in the workplace," and "spiritual growth."

CONCLUSIONS

The study concludes that spirituality is critical in helping nurses overcome the myriad of adversities they face as they assume their important roles during the ongoing pandemic.

IMPLICATION FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

The study emphasizes that nurses' spiritual aspect nurses during crises is equally important with the other aspects of a nurse's life. Moreover, policies and interventions in hospitals must be implemented to ensure excellent levels of spiritual well-being among nurses.