Adaptation and spiritual well-being of family members of patients on peritoneal dialysis

Abstract

Purpose: Despite the growing number of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients on Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) who need support, there are few studies about the adaptation of their family members. The objectives of this study are to determine the level of Spiritual Well-being (SWB) of family members living and caring for patients on PD, identify difference in their personal characteristics, evaluate their impacts and explore how they adapt to the situation. The hypothesis for this study specifies that the use of SWB corresponds with family members’ adaptation on having a patient on PD. Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed method design was used. In the quantitative part, sixty (n=60) family members with patients on PD were assessed for their level of SWB by using the JAREL SWB tool (Hungelmann et al., 1985). The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version-25. In the qualitative part, eight (n=8) semistructured one-to-one interviews were used to explore the impacts and achieve a deeper understanding on how the SWB helped family members to adapt to their lives. This data was analysed using the Braun and Clarke (2006). Results: 38 % of the participants were male (n=23) and 61% were female (n=37) with a mean age 58.08 years. The mean rating scores in the three factors that provided the scale varied significantly (p=0.001). Participants scored high on faith/belief and satisfaction/self-actualization items indicating a positive relationship between these two factors (p=0.000, r=0.498). Family members scored low on the lack of life/self-responsibility items, resulting a negative relationship with faith/belief (p= 0.009, r = -0.335) and self-actualization factors (p=0.400, r = -0.111). There was no discrepancy in the mean scores between age, gender, and treatment duration on PD, resulting not significant (p<0.05). The mean scores of Satisfaction/Self-actualization vary significantly between the different levels of education since the p-value (0.03). In the qualitative findings, two main themes emerged: ‘the impact of Peritoneal Dialysis’ and ‘coping with the life situation’. Family members with PD patients reported different challenges such as physical, psychological, social, emotional, financial and spiritual impacts into their life. Different meanings of spirituality were reported including connection with God/higher power, self and others. Spirituality motivated participants to adjust and accept their situation, hoping for better future. Conclusion: Educational, social and psychological support, awareness in health care sector and future research should be considered to improve the adaptation of family members with patients on PD.