Abstract
Spirituality/religion serves important roles in coping, survival and maintaining overall wellbeing within African cultures and communities, especially when diagnosed with a chronic disease like HIV/AIDS that can have a profound effect on physical and mental health. However, spirituality/religion can be problematic to some patients and cause caregiving difficulties. The objective of this paper was to examine the role of spirituality/religion as a source of strength, resilience and wellbeing among sub-Saharan African (SSA) migrant women with HIV/AIDS. A qualitative study of SSA migrant women was conducted between April 2013 and December 2014. Participants were recruited through purposive sampling and snowball techniques from AIDS Reference Centres and AIDS workshops in Belgium, if they were 18 years and older, French or English speaking, and diagnosed HIV positive more than 3 months beforehand. We conducted semi-structured interviews with patients and did observations during consultations and support groups attendances. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. 44 women were interviewed, of whom 42 were Christians and 2 Muslims. None reported religious/spiritual alienation, though at some point in time many had felt the need to question their relationship with God by asking “why me?” A majority reported being more spiritual/religious since being diagnosed HIV positive. Participants believed that prayer, meditation, regular church services and religious activities were the main spiritual/religious resources for achieving connectedness with God. They strongly believed in the power of God in their HIV/AIDS treatment and wellbeing. Spiritual/religious resources including prayer, meditation, church services, religious activities and believing in the power of God helped them cope with HIV/AIDS. These findings highlight the importance of spirituality in physical and mental health and wellbeing among SSA women with HIV/AIDS that should be taken into consideration in providing a caring and healthy environment.
Highlights
Spirituality and religion can influence the way patients perceive health and disease and their interaction with other people [1,2,3,4,5,6]
This sub-study is part of a larger study that explored the challenges experienced by sub-Saharan African (SSA) women living with HIV/AIDS and the coping strategies they employed to cope and live well with the disease
Thirty-eight patients found out their HIV-positive status in Belgium and 6 already knew that they were infected with HIV before leaving Africa
Summary
Spirituality and religion can influence the way patients perceive health and disease and their interaction with other people [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Religious needs related to their disease can affect their mental health, and failure to meet these needs may impact their quality of life [7]. It is argued that it may be confusing to distinguish between spirituality and religion because of the ambiguous and personal meanings accorded to these concepts [4]. Spirituality and religion are often used interchangeably, but the two concepts are different. Spirituality may be related to religion for certain individuals, but not, for example, for an atheist or yoga practitioners [8]
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