title: African American spirituality: a process of honoring God, others, and self.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this pilot study was to explore African American definitions of practicing spirituality and to describe the process of spirituality and its relationship to health promotion.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected using semi-structured interview questions via two focus groups from a total of 12 participants who self-identified as African American.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This grounded theory methodology generated three categories of spirituality: (a) love in action, (b) relationships and connections, and (c) unconditional love. The overall process of practicing spirituality and its relationship to health identified a process of honoring God, self, and others.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Research studies that investigate the concept of spirituality and its relationship to health promotion and disease management need to address the subjective experience of spirituality based on participant definitions rather than researcher-focused definitions of spirituality.
authors.affiliation: University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Sheila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hankin
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.forename: Gbenga
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ogedegbe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States