Incorporating Spirituality to Improve Self-Management of Chronic Diseases

Chronic disease affects over 51% of Americans and often results in emotional, financial, and spiritual distress. Additionally, the exorbitant cost of managing chronic disease is creating a significant burden on healthcare systems. Self-management, which is crucial to disease outcome includes lifestyle changes and adherence to treatment regime. However, these lifestyle changes often cause emotional and physical struggles for those diagnosed with chronic disease. Spirituality is recognized as a source of support to alleviate stress and anxiety and provide the individual with the strength to make sense of the experience and move forward with their lives. The aim of this quality improvement project is to determine if a 10-week spiritual health education program enhances adults’ ability to self-manage their chronic disease. The education program included weekly bible devotionals and discussions on adapting healthy living including exercises and mindfulness meditation. The spiritual health education intervention sessions were provided online via Zoom and in-person. Participants were recruited from community churches. Inclusion criteria: English-speaking, adults (older than 18 years), with at least one chronic condition. All participants were asked to complete the Spiritual Needs Questionnaire (SpNQ) and the Self-Management Assessment Scale (SMASc). Paired samples t-tests were conducted to evaluate differences in participants SpNQ and SMASc scores pre and post receiving the spiritual education sessions. Significant differences were found between the test-retest scores on the SMASc questionnaire. A chi-square test was used to evaluate differences in the SMASc scores between virtual and in-person groups. There were no significant differences found in the test-retest SMASc scores. Additionally, differences were not found on the SpNQ scores between participants who received the education sessions online or in-person. The findings from this project can easily and cost-effectively be implemented in multiple, accessible locations.