. Sherafat Akaberian; . Marzieh Momennasab; . Shahrzad Yektatalab; . Mitra Soltanian
Volume 11, Issue 11 , December 2021, , Pages 1-9
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Diagnosing cancer, as a life‑threatening event, in children and adolescents stopsthe normal course of life for all family members. Spirituality, which plays an essential ...
Read More
BACKGROUND: Diagnosing cancer, as a life‑threatening event, in children and adolescents stopsthe normal course of life for all family members. Spirituality, which plays an essential role in copingwith illness and death, can increase resistance against psychological crises induced by cancerdiagnosis and treatment. This study aims to discover the spiritual needs of mothers having childrenwith cancer aged 1–12 years old.MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this qualitative study, the conventional content analysis approachwas used. The research environment was three pediatric oncology wards of Amir Hospital in Shiraz,Iran. Data were collected from September 2019 to March 2020 through face‑to‑face semi‑structuredin‑depth interviews. Fifteen participants including 12 mothers and 3 nurses were interviewed throughpurposive method considering maximal variation. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, andsubjected to a qualitative analysis. Credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability ofdata were confirmed.RESULTS: The mean (± standard deviation) age of the mothers was 35.76 (±5.96) years old. Thespiritual needs of the mothers were classified into three categories, including religious well‑being,existential well‑being, and growth and excellence as well as seven subcategories. Religious well‑beingincluded subcategories of direct and indirect connection with God, existential well‑being includedsubcategories of need for hope, multifaceted support, and rethinking, growth, and excellence consistedof subcategories of devoting yourself and surrender.CONCLUSION: Mothers of children with cancer face important spiritual needs. Therefore, it isnecessary for the treatment team to identify these needs and use them to provide appropriatespiritual care.