Latino Women's Spiritual Beliefs Related to Health.

PURPOSE: This study employed qualitative research to describe the relationship between spirituality and overall health among a sample of Latino women. A framework is presented for understanding this complex relationship.
DESIGN: Findings are presented from a qualitative analysis of six 1.5-hour focus group sessions.
SETTING: The research was conducted among Latino women living in Chicago, Illinois, and Northeastern New York communities. We employed a community-based participatory research approach in which community members were active participants throughout the research process.
SUBJECTS: Subjects were 47 Latino women 31 to 81 years, all of whom were Christian and the majority (43%) of whom had less than a high school education. Twenty-seven percent reported having high school diplomas, and the same percentage reported at least some college. Of the women who answered the questions, one did not have health insurance, 69% had public health insurance, and 29% had private health insurance. MEASURES: Grounded theory using selective coding was employed to understand the relationship between spirituality and health and to develop the conceptual framework.
RESULTS: Spirituality was expressed as a vital component of health, and the belief in a need for balance of physical, mental, and spiritual health was described. An active and a passive relationship between spirituality and health emerged, with active being most common. Asking God for help or faith as a coping strategy were subdomains of the active relationship, and God responsible for health fell under the passive domain. These relationship types influenced beliefs about participation in one's own health.
CONCLUSION: The findings that emerged contribute to an understanding of how spirituality plays a role in health beliefs among Latino women, which has implications for health promotion research and program development for addressing health disparities.