THE IMPACT OF SPIRITUALITY IN MENTAL HEALTH CARE
Literature Review of 10 Scientific Articles about the Spiritual Needsof Patients in Mental Health Care
David Adam Braimer
Student no: 166407Candidate no:102 Supervisor Professor António Barbosa da SilvaTotal words: 19 451
Masteroppgaven er gjennomført som ledd i utdanningen ved Universitetet i Agder og er godkjent som del av denne utdanningen. Denne godkjenningen innebærer ikke at universitetet innestår forde metoder som er anvendt og de konklusjoner som er trukket.
A Master Thesis submitted to theFaculty of Health and Sport ScienceDepartment of Psychosocial HealthIn partial fulfilment of the requirements for the awardof Master in Mental Health Care honours degree of the University of Agder Norway
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2ABSTRACT
This Master’s essay attempts to answer three research questions:
(1) Which kinds of spiritual needs do patients experience in mental health care?
(2) How do patients experience the relationship between the satisfaction of their spiritual needs and the improvement of their mental health?
(3) How do patients relate their spiritual needs to their experience of the meaning of their life and suffering?
A qualitative research design and a hermeneutic phenomenology method areused in this study. The study reviewed ten scientific articles on spirituality in mental health careas relevant to professional health caregivers. Findings show that patients’ spiritual needs could begiven a religious meaning (which constitutes patients’ participation in religious activities andfellowships), existential meaning (which entails having the transcendence experience and purpose of life), and a holistic meaning of spirituality (which incorporates communal, religious,and existential understanding of spirituality). Patients experience that satisfaction of theirspiritual needs helps them to find meaning to their suffering and purpose in their life.Incorporating spiritual intervention in mental health care improved the relationship between patients and healthcare givers, where healthcare givers helped patients to identify spiritualresources to get them through a difficult situation, to cope with suffering, and experience a senseof stability, had a positive impact in patients experience of health. The study concludes thatspiritual care is widely neglected in mental health care and that this situation could be corrected by training healthcare givers to be responsive to patients’ spiritual needs, which the study proposes as a theme for future research. Thus, to improve patients health.
Keywords: Spirituality, religion, spiritual needs, meaning, purpose, suffering, health, mentalhealth, wellbeing.
