Taking Refuge in Spirituality, a Main Strategy of Parents of Children with Cancer: a Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Due to the rise in prevalence of childhood cancer the impact on family caregivers is increasing.<br />Spirituality may be an alleviating factor for improving the quality of parent life. There is a lack of organized spiritual<br />care in health care facilities, so that this aspect needs more emphasis. Thus this study aimed to evaluate the spiritual<br />strategy of parents of children with cancer. Materials: This qualitative study was conducted with a conventional content<br />analysis approach. Fifteen parents of hospitalized children with cancer at the Oncology and Hematology departments of<br />governmental pediatric hospitals nationwide were purposefully selected. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were<br />conducted for data collection and inductive content analysis. Results: Eleven sub-themes were extracted in the data<br />analysis, which resulted in the generation of three themes: “spiritual strategy," “spiritual escape" and “spiritual growth".<br />Conclusion: The spiritual approach of parents of children with cancer had a significant influence on spiritual care<br />and consequently the acceptance of disease and coping with the associated conditions. Spiritual care clearly should be<br />introduced into the health care system of Iran, particular for the parents of children with cancer.