Religion in patients with advanced cancer

Yates, Jerome W.; Chalmer, Bruce J.; James, Paul St.; Follansbee, Mark; McKegney, F. Patrick

doi:10.1002/mpo.2950090204

Cited by 205 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…37,38 Thus, coping occurs both among the well and the ill. Coping can complement rational problem-solving but is not necessarily identical with it because it draws upon emotional, social, and other resources that are not strictly limited to cognitive resources. Religious and spiritual resources have been shown to be helpful for managing pain 39,40 and improving life satisfaction during illness, including terminal illnesses like advanced cancer. 34,41 Religious coping strategies occur in positive and negative varieties.…”

Section: Religious Coping With Disease and Disabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion, Senescence, and Mental Health: The End of Life Is Not the End of Hope

Ness¹

2002

American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

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The authors review epidemiological and survey research relevant to the relationships between religiousness/spirituality and mental health in people at the end of life, with the end of helping psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals dealing with older Americans. They give special attention to well-being, religious coping, cognitive dysfunction, anxiety, depression, and suicide, and consider the extent to which hope is a mediator of the purported salutary effects of religiousness. Studies were selected from the comprehensive and systematic review of 20th-century scientific literature concerning religion and health. Authors also review current studies relevant to religion and end-of-life issues. Religious persons reported generally higher levels of well-being. The review also found fairly consistent inverse associations of religiousness with rates of depression and suicide. There was some negative association between religious participation and cognitive dysfunction, but the association with anxiety was inconsistent, with some studies showing a correlation between higher levels of religion and anxiety. Religion's effects on mental health are generally protective in direction but modest in strength.Public opinion polls suggest that the United States is a very religious nation. The 1999 Gallup Poll reports that 94% of Americans believe in God or a higher power; an almost equal proportion of the population says that religion is very or fairly important in their lives. 1 Less than a majority of these respondents report weekly attendance at religious services, but American rates of religious service attendance are still higher than for almost all other developed countries. 2 Most Americans believe that religion and health are intimately related. A 1996 Time/CNN poll conducted by Yankelovich Partners reports that 77% of respondents believe that God sometimes intervenes to cure people who have serious illnesses. 3 Furthermore, people act upon such beliefs. This same poll reports that 82% of Americans profess belief in the healing power of prayer. Also, research by Eisenberg and colleagues 4 shows that Americans spend billions of dollars annually on "alternative" medical therapies, and many of these therapies have spiritual meanings associated with them. 4,5

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Section: Religious Coping With Disease and Disabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion, Senescence, and Mental Health: The End of Life Is Not the End of Hope

Ness¹

2002

American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

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“…Thus, in patients with advanced cancer, there is a significant correlation between religious faith and and 10 women (mean age 66 years, range 46-84) who had not received post-operative chemotherapy; 17 had acceptance of the situation, and lower levels of pain in those who have religious belief [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Which patients will benefit from psychosocial intervention after cystectomy for bladder cancer?

Månsson¹,

Colleen²,

Hermerén

et al. 1997

British Journal of Urology

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Objectives To investigate: (i) if early psychosocial intervention after cystectomy for bladder cancer can assist psychosocial rehabilitation; (ii) if the outcome of such intervention correlates with the patient’s psychological defensive strategies as revealed with the meta‐contrast technique (MCT); and (iii) if the patient’s general philosophical outlook is important in this context. Patients and methods Of 50 patients who had undergone radical cystectomy for bladder cancer, 17 received an ileal conduit, 17 a continent urinary reservoir with abdominal stoma and 16 an orthotopic neobladder. Twenty‐four of the patients were randomized to psychosocial intervention, comprising weekly counselling 4–9 weeks after surgery. All patients were then evaluated with the Sickness‐Impact Profile (SIP) standard questionnaire and the MCT (a projective test of percept‐genetic model) was used to reflect individual defensive strategies at the subconscious or unconscious level. The patient’s general philosophical outlook was recorded before and after surgery. Results There was no significant difference in the results of the SIP between the intervention and the non‐intervention group, as a whole or in its psychosocial dimension. However, intervention benefited patients with continent cutaneous diversion, whose scores on the psychosocial SIP dimension were lower than in the groups with ileal conduit diversion or orthotopic bladder replacement (P<0.05). The MCT analysis of defensive strategies identified three clusters of patients characterized mainly by isolation and repression, repression and stereotypy or sensitivity and stereotypy. Analysis for cluster identification showed no significant SIP score differences between intervention and non‐intervention groups. In an analysis of single defensive strategies, stereotypy was associated with higher total SIP score, but not significantly. Three clusters of philosophical outlook were identified; in one cluster, characterized by a belief in a supernatural power and philosophical interest, the psychosocial SIP scores were lower in the patients who obtained emotional support and the reverse in a cluster with contrary attitudes, although neither differences were significant. Conclusion Psychosocial intervention assisted the psychosocial rehabilitation of patients with continent cutaneous urinary diversion. Defensive strategies and philosophical outlook generally did not influence the outcome of intervention. However, such programmes may be helpful for some patients, mainly those with a basically pessimistic disposition, a general interest in philosophical questions and often using defensive strategies of stereotypy and repression.

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“…Our study differs from earlier reported studies in the sense that most of those studies have been done in patients who were suffering from incurable chronic diseases and therefore were already in poor health. (22,23,24) Such population displays a lot of psychological component responsible for their wellbeing besides actual benefits from any intervention. Our study subjects included healthy medical students who were already, at least apparently, enjoyed good physical and mental health and had an above average IQ.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%