Use of Religious Coping in Patients with Cancer

Abstract

In this article, we reviewed the relationship between religion and health and the use of religious coping in cancer patients to draw attention to the importance of religion and religious coping. There are five dimensions of health: physical, mental, social, spiritual, and religious. The relationships between these five dimensions of health is very close, often intertwined, profound and symbiotic. Religious coping is a means of seeking Allah’s help, trusting and taking refuge in Allah, finding solace in religious provisions/teachings, and praying/worshiping more than usual during stressful events of life such as illness, calamity, death, or circumstances where a person is helpless. Religious coping has been frequently used by cancer patients and parents of children with cancer in many cultures around the world for physical, mental, social, and/or spiritual health. Patients’ religious beliefs are an unrecognized source of support; however, health professionals do not take into account the religious beliefs, expectations and needs of patients with cancer when dealing with the medical care and treatment of patients. We strongly believe that health professionals should recognize and accommodate and respect to patients’ religious and spiritual needs. Lastly, we recommend that comprehensive studies should be performed on the religious coping styles of Thai parents of children with cancer, because no study has been reported about this subject in the literature. These studies will fill the gap in the literature and make a great contribution to the clinical practices. (Thai Cancer J 2024;44:1-10)