Source: psychcentral.com<\/p>\n
HIV patients who self-identify as religious or spiritual, pray daily, attend religious services regularly and say they feel God\u2019s presence, tend to have better emotional and physical well-being, according to a new study published online in the journal\u00a0Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.<\/p>\n
In contrast, \u201cprivately religious\u201d HIV patients \u2014 potentially turning away from organized religion due to fears about being stigmatized or ostracized \u2014 had the lowest levels of quality of life and more mental health challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese findings are significant because they point to the untapped potential of encouraging patients living with HIV who are already religious to attend religious services regularly,\u201d says Maureen E. Lyon, Ph.D., FABPP, a clinical health psychologist at Children\u2019s National Hospital, and senior study author.<\/p>\n
\u201cScientific evidence suggests that religions that present God as all-powerful, personal, responsive, loving, just and forgiving make a difference in health-related quality of life,\u201d Lyon said. \u201cBy contrast, belief systems and religions that see God as punishing, angry, vengeful and distant and isolate members from their families and the larger community do not have health benefits or contribute to health-related quality of life. People who identify as spiritual also benefit from improved overall health-related quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
In general, patients living with HIV have reported that they wished their health care providers acknowledged their religious beliefs and spiritual struggles. Additional research is needed to gauge whether developing faith-based interventions or routine referrals to faith-based programs that welcome racial and sexual minorities improve satisfaction with treatment and health outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 1 million people in the U.S. live with HIV, and in 2018, 37,832 people received an HIV diagnosis in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2017, the Washington, D.C. region was recorded as one of the nation\u2019s highest rates of new cases of HIV: 46.3 diagnoses per 100,000 people, according to the CDC.<\/p>\n
For the study, the researchers wanted to better understand the degree of religiousness and spirituality reported by people living with HIV and the interplay between religion and health-related quality of life. The research team recruited HIV patients in Washington, D.C., to participate in a clinical trial about family-centered advance care planning and enrolled 223 patient\/family pairs in this study.<\/p>\n
Of the participants, 56 percent were male; 86 percent were African-American; 75 percent Christian; and the mean age was 50.8 years.<\/p>\n
The researchers identified three distinct classes of religious beliefs:<\/p>\n
Class 1 religiousness\/spirituality was linked to increased quality of life, mental health and improved health status.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing committed to a welcoming religious group provides social support, a sense of identity and a way to cope with stress experienced by people living with HIV,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe encourage clinicians to capitalize on patients\u2019 spiritual beliefs that improve health \u2014 such as prayer, meditation, reading spiritual texts and attending community events \u2014 by including them in holistic treatment programs in a non-judgmental way.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition, the researchers encourage clinicians to appoint a member of the team who is responsible for handling religiousness\/spirituality screening and providing referrals to welcoming hospital-based chaplaincy programs or community-based religious groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is particularly challenging for HIV-positive African-American men who have sex with men, as this group faces discrimination related to race and sexual orientation. Because HIV infection rates are increasing for this group, this additional outreach is all the more important,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[273,52,55,222,53],"class_list":["post-4380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aids-hiv","tag-health","tag-hiv","tag-patients","tag-researchers","tag-treatment"],"yoast_head":"\n