| Learning Objective #1: Have a more in depth view of women living with chronic illness and the impact of spirituality in their lives | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Describe a method of meta-analysis used to obtain broader, richer data across multiple qualitative research studies |
Objective: Improved medical technology continues to lengthen life span, while adding negative quality of life concerns. Since women generally live longer than men, they are especially vulnerable in this area. This presentation examines the findings of 2 studies dealing with spirited elderly women and women with chronic illnesses to better understand their spirituality and how it impacts their quality of life.
Design: Data were analyzed across 2 qualitative studies. One was a descriptive phenomenological study examining quality of life in women with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The second utilized focus group methodology drawing from the wisdom of older women about inner strength and finding meaning and purpose in life through hard times.
Population, Sample, Setting: The sample for the phenomenological study in a large West Coast town included a wide age range of 11 English or Spanish speaking women with RA. The focus group study sample from a moderate size Western town included 23 older women identified as strong and spirited.
Methods: For this presentation Colaizzi’s method was used to derive common themes/categories based on repeated patterns across the 2 studies to create an overall perspective of women across the life span dealing with chronic illness and suffering.
Findings: Resulting themes apply across groups and highlight unique perspectives within each group. Themes include: 1) Living with suffering and pain; 2) Uncertainty; 3) Living in a shrinking world; 4) Perseverance and flexibility; 5) The multiple facets of spirituality
Conclusions & Implications: Creating a network of findings based on the perspectives of women across studies is useful for a broader, deeper understanding of quality of life and development of inner strength and spirituality that occurs in coping with chronic illness and suffering. It points out the commonalities while highlighting unique aspects of women of various ages dealing with a variety of life experiences.
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