Bienestar espiritual de enfermos terminales y de personas aparentemente sanas / The spiritual wellbeing of terminally ill people and the spiritual well being of apparently healthy people

RESUMEN

Objetivo: el objetivo principal del estudio fue describir y comparar el bienestar espiritual de personas con enfermedad terminal con el de personas aparentemente sanas. Medología: se desarrolló con un método cuantitativo, descriptivo, comparativo. Incluyó 44 pacientes hospitalizados en la Clínica Luís Carlos Galán y 44 personas con características similares y aparentemente sanas. Para la medición del bienestar espiritual se empleó la Escala de Bienestar Espiritual de Ellison®. Resultados: el nivel general de bienestar espiritual de las personas con enfermedad terminal es alto, los niveles del componente religioso y el componente existencial del nivel de bienestar son medios. En las personas aparentemente sanas el nivel de bienestar general y por componentes es alto. Conclusión: al comparar el bienestar espiritual entre las personas con enfermedad terminal y las personas aparentemente sanas del estudio, se encontró un mayor bienestar espiritual general y del componente existencial en el grupo de las personas aparentemente sanas. No se encontró diferencia en el nivel de bienestar de la dimensión religiosa entre los grupos.

ABSTRACT

Objective: The main objective of the study was to describe and compare the spiritual wellbeing of people with terminal illness with the spiritual well being of apparently healthy people.Methodology: the study was developed with a quantitative, descriptive and comparative approach. It included 44 patients hospitalized at the Luis Carlos Galan Clinic and 44 people with similar characteristics but apparently healthy. The spiritual well being was measured with the Ellison Spiritual Wellbeing Scale®. Results: the general level of spiritual well being of the people with terminal illness was high as well as its religious component. The level of the existential component of the spiritual well being in the same group was medium. In the apparently healthy people the general level of spiritual wellbeing and the level of its religious and existential components were high. Conclusion: when the spiritual wellbeing of people with terminal illness was compared with the spiritual well being of apparently healthy people, a higher general spiritual well being and a higher existential component of the spiritual wellbeing was found in the group of the apparently healthy people. No differences were found in the religious component of the spiritual wellbeing between the groups.