Religiosity and the challenge of terminal illness.
One of the assumptions that underpins the literature on spirituality is the belief that facing a terminal illness is a life crisis that intensifies the search for meaning, leaving individuals predisposed to embrace religion. To date, however, there is scant empirical research on the topic. This article seeks to make a contribution to this topic by reporting findings from a qualitative study that address the question of whether individuals embrace religious beliefs when faced with the challenge of a serious illness. The data were gathered from open-ended interviews with 14 hospice patients, audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed. The findings indicate the majority did not seek religious comfort or conversion as a response to the challenge of terminal illness, even when this was seen as desirable. Although participants were not actively inspired to be religious as a result of their illness, they did hold a number of spiritual perspectives that were actively at play.
McGrath
Pam
P
Centre for Social Science Research, School of Nursing and Health, Central Queensland University, North Rockhampton Qld 4702, Australia. p.mcgrath@cqu.edu.au
D006801:Humans; D012067:Religion; D029181:Spirituality; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000523:psychology*