African American spirituality: a process of honoring God, others, and self.
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.
Lewis
Lisa M
LM
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, PA, USA.
Hankin
Sheila
S
Reynolds
Diane
D
Ogedegbe
Gbenga
G
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