Impact of Spiritual Counseling for African American Young Adults with Sickle Cell Disease

Abstract

This spiritual intervention addresses the often-unspoken concerns of African American, 18–28 years, with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Understanding spirituality, while managing the many facets of SCD, is vital for holistic health. These participants find themselves at critical junctures in their spiritual development—seeking, exploring, even questioning—how spirituality may play a role in their overall well-being. To that end, participants met 1:1 with a chaplain over six encounters to share resources, skills and tools for increasing everyday coping and self-efficacy. This pilot came to realize that to truly be effective, additional core encounters are needed for true impact.