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Abstract: Although, there are a number of studies published on the topic of spirituality, few include a spiritual intervention. The literature is replete with descriptive studies often relating the presence or absence of spirituality with other study variables including healing. While a limited number of spiritual interventions are described in the literature, little is reported regarding their development. The article describes existing spiritual interventions and in greater depth the conceptual development of the group spiritual intervention designed by this author. SPIRIT© is based on the theoretical and empirical literature on the topic of spirituality, the review of research findings related to existing spirituality interventions, and knowledge of principles of group process from the author's practice. The author describes the potential use of this spiritual intervention as a healing approach.
Key Words: Spirituality, Spiritual Intervention, Healing, Spiritual Care, Nursing Intervention, Spiritual Groups
Spirituality is acknowledged as a dimension of holism. Goddard (1995) stated that "Western society has tripartitioned personhood into distinct biophysical, psychological and spiritual components and then banished the spiritual dimension to relative obscurity" (p. 808). She proposed instead that spirituality be viewed as an integrative energy and a universal human phenomenon. Spirituality has been defined as the search for the discovery of truth, meaning, and a purpose in life (Long, 1997; Taylor & Ferszt, 1990; Tuck, Pullen, & Lynn, 1997). There is support to view spirituality as an integral aspect of the human experience.
Healing is a transformative process which occurs during illness, in addition to the efforts made to treat or eradicate the disease (curing). Persons who suffer from chronic illnesses are the recipients of many biomedical "cure" interventions in our health care system. The author contends that individuals living with chronic diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection benefit from healing as well as curing. Healing comes from within the person and is related to the human experience of illness (Stuart, Deckro, & Mandle, 1989). Healing not only results in the attenuation ot symptoms, but also restores the integrity of the person. Healing enhances one's well-being and delays disease progression (Wirth, 1995). Caring for persons with chronic illness implies that both healing and curing must take place, although it is not necessary that they occur simultaneously.
Nurses have taken a...