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Personal Prayer in Patients Dealing with Chronic Illness: A Review of the Research Literature
Joint Authors
Büssing, Arndt
Hvidt, Niels Christian
Baumann, Klaus
Jors, Karin
Source
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Issue
Vol. 2015, Issue 2015 (31 Dec. 2015), pp.1-12, 12 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2015-02-26
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
12
Main Subjects
Abstract EN
Background.
Prayer is commonly used among patients for health purposes.
Therefore, this review focused on three main questions: (1) why do people turn to prayer in times of illness?, (2) what are the main topics of their prayers?, and (3) how do they pray? Method.
We undertook a systematic review of the literature by searching the databases PubMed, Medline, and PsycINFO.
The following inclusion criteria were used: (1) participants in the study were patients dealing with an illness, (2) the study examined the use of private rather than intercessory prayer, and (3) the content and purpose of prayer rather than its effects were investigated.
Results.
16 articles were included in the final review.
Participants suffered from a variety of chronic diseases, mostly cancer.
Five main categories for the reasons and topics of prayer were found: (1) disease-centered prayer, (2) assurance-centered prayer, (3) God-centered prayer, (4) others-centered prayer, and (5) lamentations.
Among these, disease-centered prayer was most common.
Conclusions.
Although most patients with chronic diseases do pray for relief from their physical and mental suffering, the intention of their prayers is not only for healing.
Rather, prayer can be a resource that allows patients to positively transform the experience of their illness.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Jors, Karin& Büssing, Arndt& Hvidt, Niels Christian& Baumann, Klaus. 2015. Personal Prayer in Patients Dealing with Chronic Illness: A Review of the Research Literature. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine،Vol. 2015, no. 2015, pp.1-12.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1063813
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Jors, Karin…[et al.]. Personal Prayer in Patients Dealing with Chronic Illness: A Review of the Research Literature. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine No. 2015 (2015), pp.1-12.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1063813
American Medical Association (AMA)
Jors, Karin& Büssing, Arndt& Hvidt, Niels Christian& Baumann, Klaus. Personal Prayer in Patients Dealing with Chronic Illness: A Review of the Research Literature. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2015. Vol. 2015, no. 2015, pp.1-12.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1063813
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-1063813