Effectiveness of spiritual intervention on religious struggle among COVID-19 patients

ABSTRACT

Background@#Spiritual struggle is a state of distress a person experiences when relationships with the sacred are fundamentally challenged or broken. Its presence has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality. During the COVID-19 pandemic, attempts to address the whole being of patients, including spiritual well-being, were explored to improve outcomes of care. @*Objective@#The study determined the prevalence of spiritual struggle among COVID-19 related cases and assessed the effectiveness of a formulated spiritual regimen versus the standard pastoral care. @*Methods@#This is a randomized, triple-blind, controlled trial. COVID-19 patients tagged as having religious struggle were randomized into two equal groups (chaplain-led spiritual intervention and self-driven standard pastoral care). The Religious Struggle Screening Scale (RSSS) was measured at baseline and 4 weeks after the intervention in both groups. @*Results@#Prevalence of spiritual struggle among COVID-19 patients was 67%. Baseline patient demographics were similar for both groups. The overall RSSS slightly decreased throughout the 4-week duration for both groups. In addition, the six dimensions of the RSSS, namely divine, demonic, interpersonal, moral, ultimate meaning and doubt were noted to have slightly improved. However, the differences in the two groups were not significant. @*Conclusion@#There is no difference in the effect on religious struggle of a formulated spiritual regimen and standard care given to COVID-19 patients.