Wellness and Religious Coping Among Thai Individuals Living with Chronic Kidney Disease in Southern California

Abstract

© 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York. This qualitative research is based on eight Thai participants living with chronic kidney disease living in Southern California. Four emerging themes are (a) wellness, (b) self-care, (c) impact of illness on life, and (d) religious coping. Family relations, social support, and religious coping affected self-care and how they managed their everyday activities. Knowledge about the disease and its mechanism were crucial to the decision-making process in relation to self-care. Good self-care and appropriate self-management led to wellness and improved quality of life. Religion provided a belief system focusing on the place of acceptance that was essential for coping with emotional stressors.