Relationship Between Spiritual Well-Being and Hope in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease.

Spirituality and hope have been identified as important constructs in health research, since both are thought to enhance a person's ability to cope with the consequences of serious illness. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between spiritual well-being and hope in patients with cardiovascular disease. Using descriptive, correlational methodology, the investigator gathered data on a convenience sample of 500 patients with cardiovascular disease who were hospitalized in a medical institution in Iran. The study was conducted over a four-month period. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) and the Herth Hope Index (HHI). The mean score on the SWBS and HHI was 86.21 (SD 12.46) and 34.80 (SD 5.05), respectively. Multivariate predictors for spiritual well-being were female gender (p = 0.047), religiosity (p = 0.018), and hope (p < 0.001). Significant predictors of hope were marital status (p < 0.001), educational status (p < 0.001), economic status (p < 0.001), and spiritual well-being (p < 0.001). Findings suggest that multiple factors may impact spiritual well-being and hope. Therefore, this study has implications for those providing care to patients with cardiovascular disease.

The German Version of the Herth Hope Index (HHI-D): Development and Psychometric Properties.

BACKGROUND: The importance of hope is evident in clinical oncological care. Hope is associated with psychological and also physical functioning. However, there is still a dearth of empirical research on hope as a multidimensional concept. The Herth Hope Index is a reliable and valid instrument for the measurement of hope and is available in many languages. Until now no authorized German translation has been published and validated. METHODS: After translation, the questionnaire was completed by 192 patients with different tumor entities in radiation therapy. Reliability, concurrent validity, and factor structure of the questionnaire were determined. RESULTS: Correlations were high with depression and anxiety as well as optimism and pessimism. As expected, correlations with coping styles were moderate. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were satisfactory. We could not replicate the original 3-factor model. Application of the scree plot criterion in an exploratory factor analysis resulted in a single-factor structure. CONCLUSIONS: The Herth Hope Index - German Version (HHI-D) is a short, reliable, and valid instrument for the assessment of hope in patient populations. We recommend using only the HHI-D total score until further research gives more insights into possible factorial solutions and subscales.

The concept of hope in nursing 4: hope and gerontological nursing.

This article is the fourth in a series of six that explores the nature of hope, reviews the existing theoretical and empirical work in several discrete areas of nursing and provides case studies to illustrate the role that hope plays in clinical situations. This article focuses on hope within the specialty of gerontological nursing. To date, most of the hope research, using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, has focused on well and chronically ill young or middle-aged adults; very few studies have examined hope in the older adult and specifically how older adults maintain hope in spite of multiple losses and/or changes. Hope has been studied in several elderly populations, including grieving widow(er)s, community-based older persons, persons living in long term care facilities and elders recruited from senior citizen centres. Research findings provide initial direction for the assessment of hope, and a reference for evaluating the effectiveness of these strategies. There remains, however, a need for continuing research in the area of hope in the older adult that is multifaceted and applicable to both practice and education.

The concept of hope in nursing 5: hope and critical care nursing.

This article is the fifth of a series of six that explores the nature of hope, reviews the existing theoretical and empirical work in several discrete areas of nursing, and provides case studies to illustrate the role that hope plays in clinical situations. In this article we focus on hope within the formal area of critical care nursing. The article points out that there is a distinct paucity of theoretical and empirical work on hope in this formal area. A very limited empirical literature exists, and this work has produced some preliminary findings on the nature and range of interventions for inspiring hope in this client group. Interestingly, while the nature of critical illness appears to indicate the need for the individual to draw upon all his/her intra- and interpersonal sources of help and support, and thus similarly draw upon his/her internal and external hope, the substantive issue of hope inspiration in this client group is not well researched. There exists, no doubt, a range of explanations for this disparity and this article outlines two and introduces a third. Yet hope and hope maintenance/inspiration may just be equally relevant and important to people with critical problems as they are to individuals with chronic problems; this view is supported by the limited empirical work in this area. Consequently, there is a clear need for future qualitative and quantitative research, some of which needs to explore the experiences of hope/hoping/hopelessness for people with a range of critical care needs. Furthermore, despite the apparent emphasis on 'high-tech', overt, and tangible practices within some critical care settings, this article would urge practitioners to remain open to the value of the more subtle, less visible, implicit, approaches to inspiring and maintaining hope in these clients.

The concept of hope in nursing 3: hope and palliative care nursing.

This article is the third in a series of six that explores the nature of hope, reviews the existing theoretical and empirical work in several discrete areas of nursing, and provides case studies to illustrate the role that hope plays in clinical situations. This article focuses on hope within the specialty area of palliative care nursing. Nurse researchers have been instrumental in our current early understandings of hope in palliative care. Studies of hope in palliative care, over the past decades, have focused primarily on those individuals in the advanced stages of cancer and the human immunodeficiency virus. Studies using quantitative methodology have focused on exploring hope levels across the dying trajectory and the relationship between hope and other psychosocial variables while those using qualitative methodology have focused on the meaning of hope and elucidating how terminally ill individual maintain and engender their hope. Research supports that the clinician is an instrument through which hope can be assessed and administered. There is a need for further rigorous investigation of the role of hope during the terminal phase of an illness with specific emphasis on capturing the intangible inner experiences of hope and on the validation of interventions/strategies that develop and maintain hope for both the terminally ill person and his/her family caregivers and significant others.

The concept of hope in nursing 6: research/education/policy/practice.

This article, the last in the series, focuses on future international research, education, policy and practice issues that centre around the concept of hope. While a growing literature is accumulating, it needs to be acknowledged that the area of hope and hope inspiration remains under-researched and is consequently not well understood. However, this article highlights future research questions around hope which have been grouped under the broad headings of: (1) the structure of hope; (2) the assessment of hope; (3) the enhancement of hope; (4) the potential outcomes of hope. The article also declares how our current body of knowledge relating to hope has had limited visibility outside professional journals, has not received the funding necessary, and has not been reflected in relevant policies within our healthcare and educational institutions. If the goal is to conduct interdisciplinary research across countries and to gain a global understanding of hope, then greater resources are needed. There is a need to prepare nurses and other healthcare professionals to deal with the challenge of enhancing and maintaining hope in those that they care for in their practice, as well as in themselves.