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An 81-year-old woman with chronic illnesses and a strong faith

  • Susie T. Harris EMAIL logo und Harold G. Koenig
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 13. Oktober 2015
Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine
Aus der Zeitschrift Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine Band 13 Heft 1

Abstract

Mrs. Smith is an 81-year-old woman who has several medical problems. Despite these problems, however, her faith and spirituality strength give her the strength and determination to move forward in life. She stresses that, “My faith helps me cope with my illnesses.” This article describes Mrs. Smith’s roller coaster life and how faith, prayer, and hope have allowed her to continue to press forward. She interprets pain and illnesses as challenges, not obstacles. Her physician who has been treating her for about 20 years indicates that she has continued to have multiple chronic health issues and has maintained an incredibly positive spirit, particularly when traditional medicine has failed to make a difference. Spiritual care is being increasingly documented as an important component of whole person medicine. For some, religiosity and spirituality are important aspects of patient–provider relationship. God, faith, and hope are essential factors to Mrs. Smith who uses spirituality and religion daily to cope with her chronic illnesses.

Keywords: diabetes; faith; quality of life; religion; spiritual history; spirituality

Article note

The case presented here is based on one reported in 2002 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, [1] which has been modified and updated, and combined with other cases to illustrate the points made in the present article.

Author contributions:

All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

Research funding:

None declared.

Employment or leadership:

None declared.

Honorarium:

None declared.

Competing interests:

The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.

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Received: 2015-1-28
Accepted: 2015-9-1
Published Online: 2015-10-13
Published in Print: 2016-3-1

©2016 by De Gruyter

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Preclinical Studies
  3. TNF-α modulation by natural bioactive molecules in mouse RAW 264.7 macrophage cells
  4. Antihyperlipidemic and antioxidant activities of the ethanolic extract of Garcinia cambogia on high fat diet-fed rats
  5. Attenuation of genotoxicity, oxidative stress, apoptosis and inflammation by rutin in benzo(a)pyrene exposed lungs of mice: plausible role of NF-κB, TNF-α and Bcl-2
  6. Clinical Studies
  7. Report on short course in educational methodology for university teachers in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) disciplines – a pilot study conducted at Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Karnataka, India
  8. Exploring the awareness of research among registered massage therapists in Ontario
  9. From the conventional to the alternative: exploring patients’ pathways of cancer treatment and care
  10. A comparison of the effects of reflexology and relaxation on pain in women with multiple sclerosis
  11. Cumulative effect of short-term and long-term meditation practice in men and women on psychophysiological parameters of electrophotonic imaging: a cross-sectional study
  12. Case Report
  13. An 81-year-old woman with chronic illnesses and a strong faith
  14. Improvement of restless legs syndrome by nabat: a case series and new hypotheses for research
https://doi.org/10.1515/jcim-2015-0004
Schlagwörter für diesen Artikel
diabetes; faith; quality of life; religion; spiritual history; spirituality

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Preclinical Studies
  3. TNF-α modulation by natural bioactive molecules in mouse RAW 264.7 macrophage cells
  4. Antihyperlipidemic and antioxidant activities of the ethanolic extract of Garcinia cambogia on high fat diet-fed rats
  5. Attenuation of genotoxicity, oxidative stress, apoptosis and inflammation by rutin in benzo(a)pyrene exposed lungs of mice: plausible role of NF-κB, TNF-α and Bcl-2
  6. Clinical Studies
  7. Report on short course in educational methodology for university teachers in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) disciplines – a pilot study conducted at Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Karnataka, India
  8. Exploring the awareness of research among registered massage therapists in Ontario
  9. From the conventional to the alternative: exploring patients’ pathways of cancer treatment and care
  10. A comparison of the effects of reflexology and relaxation on pain in women with multiple sclerosis
  11. Cumulative effect of short-term and long-term meditation practice in men and women on psychophysiological parameters of electrophotonic imaging: a cross-sectional study
  12. Case Report
  13. An 81-year-old woman with chronic illnesses and a strong faith
  14. Improvement of restless legs syndrome by nabat: a case series and new hypotheses for research
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