Effect of Healing Program on Quality of Life in Chemotherapy Patients

Abstract

Introduction: Cancer and tolerance of severe therapies affect all aspects of life and generally the quality of life of patients. Spiritual care is one of the most important types of care for cancer patients. The most important element in spiritual care is healing. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of healing program on quality of life in chemotherapy patients Methods: This study is a semi experimental study in two private hospitals in Tehran in 20017. The samples were first selected from among the patients who were referred to two hospitals. Quality of life of patients before and after two months after intervention was measured and recorded by a specific questionnaire for measuring the quality of life of cancer patients. For analyzing, descriptive and analytic tests such as mean differences test and analysis of variance were used using SPSS 20. Data was analyzed using SPSS 21 software, t-paired and t-independent test. Results: Chi-square and analysis of variance showed that the two groups had no significant difference in terms of demographic characteristics, effective variables, and mean of quality of life in terms of dimensions and in general. And the mean of quality of life of the patients in the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group two months after the intervention (P<0.05). Conclusion: Healing attendance alone as an integral part of spiritual care can be effective in improving the quality of life of patients. Therefore, nurses can advise that their care will be more effective if they focus on their presence along with patients in caring activities and focus on indicators and elements designed to heal.

Keywords

• healing presence
• spiritual care
• quality of life
• chemotherapy patients