Level of Spirituality and Demographic Factors among People Living with HIV/AIDS

Abstract

Individuals infected with the HIV/AIDSfrequentlyreceive negative conjecture from the public in all aspects of life as well as in the aspects of spirituality. However, spirituality has been identified to contribute positive impact on people who are suffering hardship including individuals infected with HIV/AIDS. Spirituality is often used as asource of strength or coping strategy to deal with the challenges in life. The HIV/AIDS virus is commonly related to social problems and promiscuous activities. This research was conducted to identify the level of spirituality among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA)in the state of Kelantan. The respondents consisted a total of 34 male and female HIV/AIDS patients. The data was gathered using a set of questionnairesadapted from the Spiritual Quotient Questionnaire (SQQ). The results showed that majority of the respondents have a moderatelevel of spirituality; and there were no significant relationshipsamong the respondents’ spiritual level and the selected demographic factors which are age, income, number of dependentsand duration of infection. This somehow shows that even though the respondents had involved withactivities that are against the norms of society, they still maintain a considerablelevel of spirituality. Therefore, the society should avoid casting their prejudice against people living with HIV/AIDS.