Spirituality and care of prostate cancer patients: a pilot study

To explore the integration of spirituality into medical care for African-American men coping with prostate cancer.

A total of 14 African-American prostate cancer patients completed a self-administered quantitative survey examining the dimension of spirituality as a resource for coping.

A high proportion of survivors reported a general religious orientation as expressed through church affiliation and frequent church attendance. A majority (67%) had spoken with their doctors about their spiritual and religious beliefs and more than half the physicians had solicited their patients' spiritual beliefs as part of their handling of prostate cancer. While one-third of the men reported their doctors had been in contact with their clergy, two-thirds would like their doctor and clergy to be in contact with one another.

This is a pilot study that incorporated both qualitative and quantitative data collection but with the small sample, has limited generalizability. However, this work does suggest that integrating spirituality and religion into medical care may be beneficial to prostate cancer patients. Physicians and physician organizations should engage in future research in this area.