Religion, support and self‐care experiences: A qualitative descriptive study with Indonesian adults with the chronic disease living in Montreal, Canada

Abstract

Aim: To explore and describe the chronic illness self-care experiences of Indonesian immigrants living in Montreal, Canada and to gain a better understanding of how religion and support shaped these experiences.Design: Qualitative description.Methods: Data were collected from January to March 2020 via semi-structured interviews. Eight men and women participated. The data were thematically analysed.Results: Major themes identified were (1) religion, (2) being helpful to others, (3) family support, (4) transnational family support, (5) community support and (6) being in Indonesia versus Canada. Religion and faith were sources of motivation for self-care and provided guidance and strength to heal and accept the illness, mainly through the practice of prayer. 'Being helpful to others' (collectivism), including aiding others to avoid getting sick or giving 'health tips', and also just generally taking care of family also contributed to overall well-being. Spouses were the main source of assistance with disease monitoring and management and health maintenance, whereas support from the Indonesian community was minimal and mostly consisted of informational and social support. Transnational relationships with family members in Indonesia, however, provided an additional means for obtaining emotional support, advice and access to traditional medicines. Overall, there was little expectation that family or the community offer or provide support with self-care. These low expectations may partially be explained by the different cultural and social contexts in Canada compared with Indonesia. Conclusion:Religious, cultural, social and family factors may be carried over from the home country and/or may be altered post-migration, and this may impact how Indonesian immigrants with chronic illness engage in self-care. Impact: Cultural factors (collectivism, traditional medicines), religious beliefs and support networks, both locally and transnationally should be assessed and considered during care to better support and promote self-care among immigrants living with chronic diseases. Patient or public contribution: Two Indonesian community organizations facilitated recruitment and data collection.

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“…The driving force of family responsibility is the promoting factor in the meso eld. Previous studies have shown that family members can provide patients with important psychological and economic support [30], while our study found that patients not only need family support, but also hope to take the initiative to shoulder family responsibilities, and this initiative and sense of responsibility can promote patients to adopt a healthier lifestyle and self-management behavior in daily life. Jordan et al [31] pointed out in their study on diabetes management among MexicAn-American adults that grandchildren, spouses and other family members are important sources of self-management motivation for diabetic patients.…”

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“…Another defining feature of JAN is their mandate for reporting of patient and public engagement. In recent qualitative JAN publications (Austin, 2023; Lukman & Merry, 2023), those communities at the centre of investigation, had a voice in the research process. This emerging approach to research is gaining traction worldwide and can ultimately enhance the quality and cultural safety of qualitative research.…”

“…By publishing this research, JAN showcases the rich and authentic findings that can be discovered through applying culturally sensitive techniques.Another defining feature of JAN is their mandate for reporting of patient and public engagement. In recent qualitative JAN publications(Austin, 2023;Lukman & Merry, 2023), those communities at thecentreofinvestigation,hadavoiceintheresearchprocess.This emerging approach to research is gaining traction worldwide and canultimatelyenhancethequalityandculturalsafetyofqualitative research.Finally, JANisresponsivetoglobalhealthchallengesbysupportingtheuseofsecondaryqualitativedatafornewinquiries(Polinard et al, 2022), which recognizes that conducting primary qualitative research can be resource-intensive and increase the time to disseminationofresults.Secondaryqualitativeanalysisisunder-utilizedin nursingresearch;however,thisapproachsupportsmaximumutility ofdatabyallowingqualitativeresearcherstoexplorenewresearch questions,withexistingdata.Inmyownexperiences,nursingjournalsarequicktorejectsecondaryqualitativeanalysis;itispromising that JANrealizesthebenefitsofthisapproach.Althoughnota newmethodology,COVID-19boostedthepopularityof'rapid'approachestoresearch;anotherwaytoreduceburdenforqualitative researchers. For example, in a rapid qualitative study published in JAN (Geltmeyer et al, 2022), researchers used a more flexible and iterative approach to data analysis to gain quicker insights on the phenomenon of interest.…”