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Spirituality and Spiritual Distress in Parkinson’s Disease Caregivers: A Scoping Review

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Abstract

Despite recognition that spiritual concerns contribute to caregiver burden, little is known about spirituality, spiritual well-being, and spiritual distress in Parkinson’s disease caregivers. In this scoping review of the literature through October 2022, we searched PubMed, PsychINFO, Embase, and CINAHL. From an initial pool of 328 studies, 14 were included. Caregiver factors (e.g., depression, age) and patient factors (e.g., faith, motor function) affected caregiver spirituality and spiritual well-being. Caregivers experienced loss of meaning, existential guilt, and loneliness, and coped through acquiescence, cultural beliefs, prayer, and gratitude. Future research should focus on the specific spiritual needs of Parkinson’s disease caregivers and interventions to address them.

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Funding

Author BK received funding related to this work from the National Institute of Aging (K02AG062745). Author MM received funding during Summer 2022 to work on this research study from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry’s Basic Science, Clinical, and Translational Science Summer Research program. Other authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, University of Rochester, 265 Crittenden Boulevard, CU 420694, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA

    Sandhya Seshadri, Kei Sugiura & Benzi M. Kluger

  2. School of Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

    Miray Mirham

  3. Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Whitley W. Aamodt

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  1. Sandhya Seshadri
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  2. Kei Sugiura
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [SS, KS, and MM]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [SS, WA, and BMK] and all authors commented on previous versions. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Author S.S contributed to the Conceptualization, Data Curation, Formal Analyses, Methodology, Project Administration, Resources, G. Supervision, H. Writing of the Original Draft, and to the Review and Editing of the manuscript. Author K.S contributed to the Data Curation, Formal Analyses, Methodology, Project Administration, and to the Review and Editing of the manuscript. Author M.M. contributed to the Data Curation, Formal Analyses, and to the Review and Editing of the manuscript. Author W.W.A. contributed to Resources, Supervision, and to Writing of the Original Draft, and to the Review and Editing of the manuscript. Author B.M.K. contributed to the Conceptualization, Resources, Supervision, H. Writing of the Original Draft, and to the Review and Editing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sandhya Seshadri.

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Seshadri, S., Sugiura, K., Mirham, M. et al. Spirituality and Spiritual Distress in Parkinson’s Disease Caregivers: A Scoping Review. J Relig Health 62, 4222–4243 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-023-01913-5

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