The Effect of Spiritual Therapy on the Life Style of Hemodialysis Patients

Today, the need to pay attention to spirituality in chronic diseases has received more attention than before. The mission of psychiatrists is to apply sufficient knowledge and skills in caring for psychiatric patients and to maintain and promote family and community health.

This study aimed to determine the effect of spiritual therapy on the lifestyle of hemodialysis patients.

In this quasi-experimental study, 96 patients undergoing hemodialysis were selected by convenience sampling from Imam Reza Hospital in Amol in 2020 and divided into experimental and control groups by random allocation. 12 sessions of spiritual therapy training were held individually and concerning patient privacy for 6 weeks for patients in the experimental group. At the beginning of the study and one month after the sessions, the Walker lifestyle questionnaire was completed by patients in both groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16 and descriptive statistics and independent t-test and paired t-test. The significance level was considered less than 0.05.

There was a statistically significant difference between the mean lifestyle scores of the dialysis patients in the experimental group before and after the intervention (P<0.001), while this difference was not significant in the control group. The mean lifestyle of patients in the experimental and control groups before the intervention (P= 0.6) was not significant, while the difference in the mean lifestyle scores of patients in the two groups after the intervention (P= 0.001) was significant.

Teaching spiritual issues (spiritual therapy) improved the lifestyle of patients undergoing hemodialysis. It is recommended to pay attention to spiritual and religious issues along with medical treatment of patients undergoing hemodialysis to improve their lifestyle.