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Religiousness and Spirituality in Coping with Cancer

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Psychological Aspects of Cancer

Abstract

The use of religious and spiritual beliefs and practices in coping with cancer may be prevalent throughout its course considering the stressful nature of the illness and its treatments. Religious/Spiritual resources may also serve multiple functions in long-term adjustment to cancer. This chapter begins by examining what we mean by religiousness and spirituality and discusses the difficulties surrounding these concepts. It then moves on to explore the nature of religious coping and critically examines the various ways in which it has been measured. The prevalence of religious coping in patients with cancer and the evidence of its importance in terms of cancer adjustment are also discussed. This evidence will be used to justify why aspects of patients’ religiousness/spirituality should be assessed and addressed in cancer care. In addition, the chapter provides a few examples of how to take a spiritual history and assess patients’ spiritual needs. Indeed, patients may benefit from having their spiritual needs addressed as experiencing some form of religious/spiritual struggle may act as a barrier to illness adjustment. With increasing evidence in the literature of the importance of religious/spiritual coping strategies and struggles during cancer, assessing patients’ spiritual needs and providing patients with spiritual support, not just during the palliative phase of cancer but also early on in the cancer experience, may be important. How to incorporate and manage spiritual distress as part of patients’ general distress management and care and who should undertake such assessments are discussed. However, there are various barriers associated with why such assessments are not taking place within clinical practice. These are explored before summarising the evidence and providing suggestions for future directions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Ingela C. V. Thuné-Boyle B.Sc. (Hons.), M.Sc., Ph.D., C.Psychol.

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  1. Ingela C. V. Thuné-Boyle B.Sc. (Hons.), M.Sc., Ph.D., C.Psychol.
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Correspondence to Ingela C. V. Thuné-Boyle B.Sc. (Hons.), M.Sc., Ph.D., C.Psychol. .

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  1. Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, S. 10th Street 233, Philadelphia, 19107, Pennsylvania, USA

    Brian I. Carr

  2. STARZL TRANSPLAN INST, University of Pittsburgh, 5TH AVE 7 MONTEFIORE 3459, PITTSBURGH, 15213, Pennsylvania, USA

    JENNIFER STEEL

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Thuné-Boyle, I.C.V. (2013). Religiousness and Spirituality in Coping with Cancer. In: Carr, B., STEEL, J. (eds) Psychological Aspects of Cancer. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4866-2_9

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