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Background and Purpose: Development of a valid, reliable instrument to measure spiritual self-care practices of patients with heart failure. Methods: African American patients (N 5 142) with heart failure participated in the study. Spiritual advisors from several religious groups reviewed the Spiritual Self-Care Practices Scale (SSCPS) for content validity. Construct validity was determined using a principal components factor analysis. Reliability was established using Cronbach's alpha coefficients. Results: Religious advisors provided suggestions to improve content validity. Four factors consistent with spiritual practices (personal spiritual practices, spiritual practices, physical spiritual practices, and interpersonal spiritual practices) emerged from the factor analysis. The alpha coefficient was moderate at 0.64. Conclusions: Results indicated the SSCPS was reliable and valid for measuring spiritual self-care practices among African Americans with heart failure. Additional testing is needed to confirm results in other patient groups with chronic illnesses.
Keywords: spirituality; self-care; measures; nursing theory; practices
Spirituality profoundly affects human health and illness and contributes to quality of life. Nursing has traditionally been concerned with the human spirit as a focal point of the human condition across the lifespan. Nurses and other health care providers need to be aware of the relation between spirituality and patients' abilities to cope with life events. Researchers in the fields of theology, sociology, psychology, and medicine have examined spirituality, with these research studies providing substantial contributions to the continuing delineation of the construct (Como, 2007). With a growing interest in spirituality and health, several research efforts have focused on developing valid, reliable ways to measure spirituality-related concepts.
Spirituality is a particularly important element in the lives of people who have been diagnosed with chronic illnesses or injuries (Wittink, Joo, Lewis, & Barg, 2009). Definitions of spirituality are diverse and many instruments are available that combine measurements of both spiritual beliefs and spiritual practices.
A comprehensive review of literature was conducted to find an instrument that could be used to measure spiritual practices. Most of the available instruments were intended to measure religious beliefs, spiritual beliefs, and spiritual practices in combination. None of the identified surveys isolated spiritual self-care practices from beliefs. Some instruments also combined spirituality and well-being. In response to the identified need for a practice-focused tool, the Spiritual Self-Care Practices Scale (SSCPS) was developed by White...