A Descriptive Qualitative Study of Religion and Spirituality’s Role in Critical Illness Decision-Making Among Black and White Family CaregiversTake-Home Points
Background: Spiritual beliefs and spiritual support from clinicians can affect medical decision-making and coping during times of serious illness. Research Question: How do religion and spirituality affect the critical illness experience of Black and White family caregivers of patients who are criti...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | CHEST Critical Care |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949788424000674 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850190006014967808 |
|---|---|
| author | Oluwatumilara F. Akeke, MPH Dingyue Wang, BSN Deborah Ejem, PhD Kimberly S. Johnson, MD Sharron L. Docherty, PhD, RN Christopher E. Cox, MD, MPH Katelyn Dempsey, MPH Laura Fish, MPH, PhD Sirajbir Sodhi, BS Devika Shenoy, BS Nidhi Charan, BS Muhammed S. Bah, BA Deepshikha C. Ashana, MD |
| author_facet | Oluwatumilara F. Akeke, MPH Dingyue Wang, BSN Deborah Ejem, PhD Kimberly S. Johnson, MD Sharron L. Docherty, PhD, RN Christopher E. Cox, MD, MPH Katelyn Dempsey, MPH Laura Fish, MPH, PhD Sirajbir Sodhi, BS Devika Shenoy, BS Nidhi Charan, BS Muhammed S. Bah, BA Deepshikha C. Ashana, MD |
| author_sort | Oluwatumilara F. Akeke, MPH |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Spiritual beliefs and spiritual support from clinicians can affect medical decision-making and coping during times of serious illness. Research Question: How do religion and spirituality affect the critical illness experience of Black and White family caregivers of patients who are critically ill? Study Design and Methods: Twenty-one semistructured interviews were conducted with Black and White family caregivers of patients admitted to ICUs in a southeastern United States health system between January 3, 2023, and May 11, 2023. Eligible family caregivers either reported unmet spiritual needs or a high degree of importance of spirituality in their lives. Participants were asked how spirituality affected medical decision-making and coping while their loved ones were seriously ill. Coders were masked to participant race during thematic analysis. Results: Of 21 family caregivers, 9 caregivers (42.9%) were Black and 12 caregivers (57.1%) were White. Black and White family caregivers generally were middle-aged (mean [SD]: 50.6 [13.6] years and 61.7 [10.7] years, respectively) and female (n = 7 [77.8%] and n = 9 [75.0%], respectively). We observed that clinicians showed less engagement about spirituality with Black compared with White family caregivers in this sample. Black family caregivers felt more comfortable discussing their spirituality with members of their community, such as pastors or friends. A common belief among all family caregivers in this sample was that God, rather than the medical team, was in control of their loved one’s outcome. This was accompanied by a shared desire for accessible spiritual spaces in the ICU and proactive clinician engagement in their spirituality. Interpretation: Although spirituality served as an important coping mechanism for all family caregivers in this sample, racial differences in spiritual support offered to family caregivers were identified. Ensuring that multidisciplinary critical care teams are prepared to deliver culturally competent spiritual care is a priority. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-973b0cdf01984891a9f81bbff2de5c96 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2949-7884 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | CHEST Critical Care |
| spelling | doaj-art-973b0cdf01984891a9f81bbff2de5c962025-08-20T02:15:28ZengElsevierCHEST Critical Care2949-78842025-03-013110011310.1016/j.chstcc.2024.100113A Descriptive Qualitative Study of Religion and Spirituality’s Role in Critical Illness Decision-Making Among Black and White Family CaregiversTake-Home PointsOluwatumilara F. Akeke, MPH0Dingyue Wang, BSN1Deborah Ejem, PhD2Kimberly S. Johnson, MD3Sharron L. Docherty, PhD, RN4Christopher E. Cox, MD, MPH5Katelyn Dempsey, MPH6Laura Fish, MPH, PhD7Sirajbir Sodhi, BS8Devika Shenoy, BS9Nidhi Charan, BS10Muhammed S. Bah, BA11Deepshikha C. Ashana, MD12School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel HillSchool of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, NCSchool of Nursing, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, ALDepartment of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC; Geriatrics Research Education and Clinical Center, Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Durham, NCSchool of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, NCDepartment of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NCDepartment of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NCBehavioral Health and Survey Research Core, Duke University, Durham, NCSchool of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NCSchool of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NCPhiladelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PADepartment of Population Health Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NCDepartment of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC; CORRESPONDENCE TO: Deepshikha C. Ashana, MDBackground: Spiritual beliefs and spiritual support from clinicians can affect medical decision-making and coping during times of serious illness. Research Question: How do religion and spirituality affect the critical illness experience of Black and White family caregivers of patients who are critically ill? Study Design and Methods: Twenty-one semistructured interviews were conducted with Black and White family caregivers of patients admitted to ICUs in a southeastern United States health system between January 3, 2023, and May 11, 2023. Eligible family caregivers either reported unmet spiritual needs or a high degree of importance of spirituality in their lives. Participants were asked how spirituality affected medical decision-making and coping while their loved ones were seriously ill. Coders were masked to participant race during thematic analysis. Results: Of 21 family caregivers, 9 caregivers (42.9%) were Black and 12 caregivers (57.1%) were White. Black and White family caregivers generally were middle-aged (mean [SD]: 50.6 [13.6] years and 61.7 [10.7] years, respectively) and female (n = 7 [77.8%] and n = 9 [75.0%], respectively). We observed that clinicians showed less engagement about spirituality with Black compared with White family caregivers in this sample. Black family caregivers felt more comfortable discussing their spirituality with members of their community, such as pastors or friends. A common belief among all family caregivers in this sample was that God, rather than the medical team, was in control of their loved one’s outcome. This was accompanied by a shared desire for accessible spiritual spaces in the ICU and proactive clinician engagement in their spirituality. Interpretation: Although spirituality served as an important coping mechanism for all family caregivers in this sample, racial differences in spiritual support offered to family caregivers were identified. Ensuring that multidisciplinary critical care teams are prepared to deliver culturally competent spiritual care is a priority.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949788424000674caregiverscritical illnesshealth equityICUmedical decision-makingreligion |
| spellingShingle | Oluwatumilara F. Akeke, MPH Dingyue Wang, BSN Deborah Ejem, PhD Kimberly S. Johnson, MD Sharron L. Docherty, PhD, RN Christopher E. Cox, MD, MPH Katelyn Dempsey, MPH Laura Fish, MPH, PhD Sirajbir Sodhi, BS Devika Shenoy, BS Nidhi Charan, BS Muhammed S. Bah, BA Deepshikha C. Ashana, MD A Descriptive Qualitative Study of Religion and Spirituality’s Role in Critical Illness Decision-Making Among Black and White Family CaregiversTake-Home Points CHEST Critical Care caregivers critical illness health equity ICU medical decision-making religion |
| title | A Descriptive Qualitative Study of Religion and Spirituality’s Role in Critical Illness Decision-Making Among Black and White Family CaregiversTake-Home Points |
| title_full | A Descriptive Qualitative Study of Religion and Spirituality’s Role in Critical Illness Decision-Making Among Black and White Family CaregiversTake-Home Points |
| title_fullStr | A Descriptive Qualitative Study of Religion and Spirituality’s Role in Critical Illness Decision-Making Among Black and White Family CaregiversTake-Home Points |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Descriptive Qualitative Study of Religion and Spirituality’s Role in Critical Illness Decision-Making Among Black and White Family CaregiversTake-Home Points |
| title_short | A Descriptive Qualitative Study of Religion and Spirituality’s Role in Critical Illness Decision-Making Among Black and White Family CaregiversTake-Home Points |
| title_sort | descriptive qualitative study of religion and spirituality s role in critical illness decision making among black and white family caregiverstake home points |
| topic | caregivers critical illness health equity ICU medical decision-making religion |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949788424000674 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT oluwatumilarafakekemph adescriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT dingyuewangbsn adescriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT deborahejemphd adescriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT kimberlysjohnsonmd adescriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT sharronldochertyphdrn adescriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT christopherecoxmdmph adescriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT katelyndempseymph adescriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT laurafishmphphd adescriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT sirajbirsodhibs adescriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT devikashenoybs adescriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT nidhicharanbs adescriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT muhammedsbahba adescriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT deepshikhacashanamd adescriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT oluwatumilarafakekemph descriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT dingyuewangbsn descriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT deborahejemphd descriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT kimberlysjohnsonmd descriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT sharronldochertyphdrn descriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT christopherecoxmdmph descriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT katelyndempseymph descriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT laurafishmphphd descriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT sirajbirsodhibs descriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT devikashenoybs descriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT nidhicharanbs descriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT muhammedsbahba descriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints AT deepshikhacashanamd descriptivequalitativestudyofreligionandspiritualitysroleincriticalillnessdecisionmakingamongblackandwhitefamilycaregiverstakehomepoints |