Paper
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Interrelationships Between Spirituality, Mental Health, and Immune Status Among Women With HIV/AIDS
Safiya George Dalmida, PhD, MSN, APRN, Family and Community Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA and Marcia McDonnell, DSN, RN, FNP-C, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: Understand the interrelationships between spiritual well-being, depression, and CD4 count among women with HIV. |
| Learning Objective #2: Identify predictors of health-related quality of life among women with HIV |
Women who are infected and negatively affected by HIV rely on a number of means to cope with the stressors associated with being HIV-positive. Spirituality has been identified as an important factor in health and well-being among women with HIV/AIDS. Spirituality is a resource used by HIV-positive women to maintain psychological well-being, and it also may have a positive impact on physical health and health-related quality of life. The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to assess the interconnection between spiritual well-being, depression, CD4 count, and health-related quality of life among women living with HIV/AIDS. Methods: A non-random sample of women were recruited from an infectious disease clinic in metro Atlanta. Correlations and hierarchical regression statistics were used to examine those interrelationships. The spirituo-psychoneuroimmunology (SPNI) framework, developed by the author, based on McCain’s PNI based framework (2005), served as a guide to facilitate the examination of those relationships. The qualitative component used a phenomenological approach to interview women in focus groups and individual interviews about their lived spiritual experience. This component of the study helped to inform and add meaning to the quantitative findings. The findings of this study showed significant inverse associations between spiritual well-being, and its components, and depression. There were also significant, but weak positive associations between existential well-being and immune status. Existential well-being and depression were the only two significant predictors of health-related quality of life. The qualitative study findings revealed the spiritual views and practices of 20 women living with HIV. The following themes emerged: connection to God or Higher Power; prayer, helping others, having faith or belief in God, and church attendance; health or healing; a second chance; spirituality is a process or journey and its sub-theme: HIV brought me closer to God; spiritual, social, or mental health support; and finding purpose.