Faith Community Nursing Spiritual and Health Assessment - Research Paper Example

A spiritual self–assessment survey was developed and executed on Spanish-speaking, Christian Hispanics to determine whether faith healing decreases their likelihood of undergoing cancer screening, prevention, and/or treatment. This project’s goal was thus to assess through the survey whether, and to what extent, does faith healing infringes upon early cancer screening, prevention, and/or treatment, as well as how in presence of treatment, individuals still retain their belief in faith healing.

The target community was an online community. The target community was 35 – 65 years old Spanish-speaking Christian Hispanics. There were 4, 373 members of the blog: 2,500 females and 1,875 males (Graph 2). However, out of them, only 90 females (54% respondents) and 77 males (46% respondents) responded to the survey (Graphs 1 & 2).  Respondents came from nineteen different countries: the U.S., Mexico, and several Central and South American countries (Appendix B). Moreover, 25 females and 33 males came from rural areas, and 65 females and 44 males came from urban areas.  The survey was distributed on Facebook, where it was posted in a blog, and personal e-mails were sent as well.  The survey was distributed under complete confidentiality and anonymity.

The target group was highly religious – with a personal relationship to Jesus Christ.  All respondents (90 females and 77 males) prayed on a daily basis, read the Bible each week and believed it to be the guide on how to behave, turned to Jesus Christ for everything they did, had a personal relationship to Jesus Christ, and believed Jesus Christ would help them with all their problems (see Appendix C). Their sense of community is strong as they all stated they love praying in groups and go to underprivileged and disrespected communities to preach the Gospel (see Appendix C). 

However, their health habits are at times inadequate.  Participants were split into those with cancer and those without. First, the latter group will be discussed. Both genders were optimistic that Jesus would save them from cancer: 39 females and 29 males believed so (see Graph 6). As a result, 41 females and 31 males believed they cannot get cancer, and 58 females and 41 males had never been screened for cancer prior to this survey (see Graphs 5 & 4), out of 90 females and 77 males that responded. Those with cancer provided no better results. Besides praying, only 14 females and 8 males answered that they have cancer and follow the treatment plan (see Graph 7).  It is interesting and important to note that the same number of participants is also aware that faith influences the way they view their disease (see Graph 8). Out of 90 female and 77 male respondents, 32 females and 21 males would recommend cancer screening for other females and males (see Graph 9).

Faith communities are crucial in solving the health problems of the target group. Hispanics in the US  and South and Central America have lower overall incidence and mortality rates than Whites and African Americans, despite the findings in this survey with regard to cancer screening and treatment (National Cancer Institute, 2008, Table 1; Jemal et al., 2011, Table 2). Their strong faith communities might be the cause of low incidence and mortality rates, and unlike in this survey, they might be the source of support for cancer screening and treatment.  Thus, they need to be involved, more so as “[t]he health risks for the larger community are also health risks for the faith communities within it” (Smucker & Weinberg, 2009, p. 10).  Nurses play an important role in faith communities. Through Faith Community Nursing (FCN), they “will serve as health educators, advocates, personal health counselor, trainer of volunteers, and organizers of support groups, as it relates to the topic of cancer” (Smucker & Weinberg, 2009, p. 42).  These nurses should also cooperate with clinics and other health officials so that they remain informed on changes in the health of the overall population, such as cancer screening.  

These communities can approach individuals on a trusted terrain and educate them. The blog will provide online flyers on breast, lung, and colorectal cancer for women, and prostate, bladder, and stomach cancer for men.