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World J Diabetes. May 15, 2021; 12(5): 630-641
Published online May 15, 2021. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v12.i5.630
Impact of spiritual beliefs and faith-based interventions on diabetes management
Charity Neejide Onyishi, Leonard Chidi Ilechukwu, Vera Victor-Aigbodion, Chiedu Eseadi
Charity Neejide Onyishi, Vera Victor-Aigbodion, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2006, South Africa
Charity Neejide Onyishi, Vera Victor-Aigbodion, Chiedu Eseadi, Department of Educational Foundations, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu 410001, Nigeria
Leonard Chidi Ilechukwu, Department of Arts Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu 410001, Nigeria
Author contributions: Onyishi CN, Ilechukwu LC, Victor-Aigbodion V, and Eseadi C were responsible for the conception of the study; OnyishiCN, Ilechukwu LC, Victor-Aigbodion V, and Eseadi C were responsible for the study design, literature review, analysis, drafting, editing, and approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no personal interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Leonard Chidi Ilechukwu, PhD, Lecturer, Department of Arts Education, University of Nigeria, Bab Fafunwa Building Faculty of Education, Nsukka 410001, Enugu, Nigeria. leonard.ilechukwu@gmail.com
Received: January 16, 2021
Peer-review started: January 16, 2021
First decision: February 12, 2021
Revised: February 23, 2021
Accepted: March 25, 2021
Article in press: March 25, 2021
Published online: May 15, 2021
Abstract

Management of diabetes constitutes significant social and economic burdens worldwide. There is a shortage of empirical studies on the management of diabetes and the associated mental health issues through spiritual beliefs and faith-based interventions (FBIs). It is not also clear how spiritual beliefs and FBIs account for the effective management of diabetic conditions. This article discusses the impact of spiritual beliefs and FBIs in the management of diabetes, from relationship and efficacy studies that report outcomes from experimental procedures of related interventions. The majority of the relationship studies showed positive relationships, while efficacy studies showed a high efficacy of interventions in faith-based approaches. However, none of the studies clearly reported the mechanisms of change or modality of operation in a FBI that can serve as a model across culture and context. Possible mechanisms of change were discussed for further development of a standard faith-based model, and finally, suggestions for future research were also highlighted by the authors.

Keywords: Comorbid health conditions, Diabetes, Faith-based interventions, Diabetes management, Spirituality, Coping strategies

Core Tip: Studies tend to show that spiritual beliefs are linked to the acceptance and management of diabetes conditions. Other studies show that faith-based interventions (FBIs) can be useful in diabetes management. However, there is an absence of studies showing the pathway to the positive impact of spiritual beliefs and FBIs on diabetes management. We explored the relationships and effects of spiritual beliefs and FBIs on diabetes management through literature review. Mechanisms of change and directions for further research were also discussed.