A Study on the Effectiveness of Spiritual Intervention on Hopefulness and Life Orientation in Women with Breast Cancer

Introduction: Breast cancer is characterized by the growth of malignant abnormal cells in the breast part of the women's body. The psychological, emotional, spiritual well-being of cancer patients have been influenced by cancer-associated symptoms and disease management. Spiritual issues are at the frontier of new clinical and research focus in palliative and supportive care of cancer patients. As concepts of adequate supportive care expand beyond a focus on pain and physical symptom control, spiritual issues such as meaning, hope, and spirituality, in general, have received increased attention from supportive care clinicians and clinical researchers. Materials and Methods: This study was quasi-experimental with a Pre-test and Post-test, and control group. The statistical population included women with breast cancer referred to the Cancer Research Center of Shohada Hospital in 2019 that people were selected by the available method and were divided into two groups randomly. The experimental group was exposed to the spiritual intervention and the control group was not exposed to any intervention. For measuring research variables, 12 items of Hopefulness questionnaires and 10 items of Life Orientation Test (LOT) questionnaires were used and the covariance analysis was used for analyzing data. Finding and Results: The results of the research showed that using spiritual intervention (p0.05) in-group was effective significantly in improving Hopefulness and Life Orientation in the women's group with breast cancer. Conclusion and Discussion: Breast cancer is a chronic disease that requires long-term, intimate treatment and care because of worsening symptoms that cannot be cured completely. On the other hand, spiritual interventions are approaches that involve religious or existential aspects such as finding meaning and purpose in the life of women who have breast cancer. Spiritual interventions may include activities such as spiritual counselling, meaning-focused meditation, or psychotherapy. Religiously oriented spiritual interventions include activities such as prayer, worship, and religious rituals. Spiritual interventions have been studied for their effects on anxiety and depression among patients with cancer. Besides, Hopefulness refers to an optimistic attitude and mindset that allows you to see the bright side of things and plan for a better future. This concept represents one of the central elements of Positive Psychology – an emerging field which aims to help people discover their inner strengths and use them to cultivate resilience and well-being. But Hopefulness is more than just a hot topic for curious researchers and healthcare professionals. This psychological dimension of well-being can help you cope with life’s difficult moments without falling victim to discouragement and negativity. Also, Life Orientation is a subject which has a holistic approach, encompassing many spheres of life, varying from health education to preparing students for life outside of school, and career choices.