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The Importance of Considering Religious and Spiritual Ontologies in the Care of HIV Patients in Zimbabwe - A Scoping Literature Review

Received: 29 April 2021     Accepted: 27 May 2021     Published: 4 June 2021
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Abstract

Background: HIV continues to have a major impact on morbidity and mortality in Zimbabwe. Religion/Spirituality (R/S) including traditional beliefs and practices (TP) play an important role for most people living with HIV (PLWHIV) in Zimbabwe. PLWHIV conceive and practice healing holistically, embracing not only the physical conditions, but also the spiritual, psycho-emotional, social, and ecological dimensions. Objective: This scoping review aims to systematically map the research done around R/S and TP and HIV in Zimbabwe. It intends to describe what is known about the role and influence of R/S on the experience of living with HIV in Zimbabwe in general and especially, to illustrate the influence of R/S and TP on the physical and psychological wellbeing of PLWHIV, and the access to HIV care. Design: This scoping review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute’s guidelines. The online databases Medline & ATLA were used to identify articles published between 2010–2021 about R/S and TP and HIV in Zimbabwe. The review includes textual papers, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed studies. Results: 638 records were found and screened for inclusion. 46 records were considered relevant for the qualitative and quantitative synthesis. Most articles (27) addressed the influence of traditional beliefs and practices on health and HIV and 16 records examined the influence of religious beliefs and religious groups’ attitude on HIV. The qualitative synthesis illustrates the influence of R/S and TP on physical and psychological wellbeing and on access to HIV care of PLWHIV in Zimbabwe, thus portraying the medical relevance of R/S issues and TP. Further synthesis identified three areas of conflict with biomedical practice: The bio-psycho-socio-spiritual understanding of health and illness, the notion of patriarchy, and the perception of sexuality and procreation. Here religious/spiritual ontologies may lead to compromised biomedical therapy outcomes. Conclusion: This scoping review includes papers of authors from different backgrounds (theology, medicine, sociology). The synthesis of the content of the records revealed a coherent picture of themes addressed and problems identified. Thus, this review is a fair description of the experience of living with HIV in Zimbabwe and the medical relevance of R/S and TP. The findings show that religious/spiritual ontologies need to be considered and integrated into the design of new health programs. It must be the aim to avoid compromised therapy outcome and to further a holistic support of PLWHIV. This is only possible in collaboration with religious stakeholders and traditional practitioners.

Published in International Journal of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Education and Behavioural Science (Volume 7, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijhpebs.20210701.14
Page(s) 27-47
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

HIV, AIDS, Religion, Traditional Practice, Zimbabwe

References
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    Ursula Wuthrich Grossenbacher, Julia Mutambara, Nicholas Midzi, Masceline Mutsaka. (2021). The Importance of Considering Religious and Spiritual Ontologies in the Care of HIV Patients in Zimbabwe - A Scoping Literature Review. International Journal of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Education and Behavioural Science, 7(1), 27-47. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijhpebs.20210701.14

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    Ursula Wuthrich Grossenbacher; Julia Mutambara; Nicholas Midzi; Masceline Mutsaka. The Importance of Considering Religious and Spiritual Ontologies in the Care of HIV Patients in Zimbabwe - A Scoping Literature Review. Int. J. HIV/AIDS Prev. Educ. Behav. Sci. 2021, 7(1), 27-47. doi: 10.11648/j.ijhpebs.20210701.14

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    Ursula Wuthrich Grossenbacher, Julia Mutambara, Nicholas Midzi, Masceline Mutsaka. The Importance of Considering Religious and Spiritual Ontologies in the Care of HIV Patients in Zimbabwe - A Scoping Literature Review. Int J HIV/AIDS Prev Educ Behav Sci. 2021;7(1):27-47. doi: 10.11648/j.ijhpebs.20210701.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijhpebs.20210701.14,
      author = {Ursula Wuthrich Grossenbacher and Julia Mutambara and Nicholas Midzi and Masceline Mutsaka},
      title = {The Importance of Considering Religious and Spiritual Ontologies in the Care of HIV Patients in Zimbabwe - A Scoping Literature Review},
      journal = {International Journal of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Education and Behavioural Science},
      volume = {7},
      number = {1},
      pages = {27-47},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijhpebs.20210701.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijhpebs.20210701.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijhpebs.20210701.14},
      abstract = {Background: HIV continues to have a major impact on morbidity and mortality in Zimbabwe. Religion/Spirituality (R/S) including traditional beliefs and practices (TP) play an important role for most people living with HIV (PLWHIV) in Zimbabwe. PLWHIV conceive and practice healing holistically, embracing not only the physical conditions, but also the spiritual, psycho-emotional, social, and ecological dimensions. Objective: This scoping review aims to systematically map the research done around R/S and TP and HIV in Zimbabwe. It intends to describe what is known about the role and influence of R/S on the experience of living with HIV in Zimbabwe in general and especially, to illustrate the influence of R/S and TP on the physical and psychological wellbeing of PLWHIV, and the access to HIV care. Design: This scoping review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute’s guidelines. The online databases Medline & ATLA were used to identify articles published between 2010–2021 about R/S and TP and HIV in Zimbabwe. The review includes textual papers, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed studies. Results: 638 records were found and screened for inclusion. 46 records were considered relevant for the qualitative and quantitative synthesis. Most articles (27) addressed the influence of traditional beliefs and practices on health and HIV and 16 records examined the influence of religious beliefs and religious groups’ attitude on HIV. The qualitative synthesis illustrates the influence of R/S and TP on physical and psychological wellbeing and on access to HIV care of PLWHIV in Zimbabwe, thus portraying the medical relevance of R/S issues and TP. Further synthesis identified three areas of conflict with biomedical practice: The bio-psycho-socio-spiritual understanding of health and illness, the notion of patriarchy, and the perception of sexuality and procreation. Here religious/spiritual ontologies may lead to compromised biomedical therapy outcomes. Conclusion: This scoping review includes papers of authors from different backgrounds (theology, medicine, sociology). The synthesis of the content of the records revealed a coherent picture of themes addressed and problems identified. Thus, this review is a fair description of the experience of living with HIV in Zimbabwe and the medical relevance of R/S and TP. The findings show that religious/spiritual ontologies need to be considered and integrated into the design of new health programs. It must be the aim to avoid compromised therapy outcome and to further a holistic support of PLWHIV. This is only possible in collaboration with religious stakeholders and traditional practitioners.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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    AU  - Julia Mutambara
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    AB  - Background: HIV continues to have a major impact on morbidity and mortality in Zimbabwe. Religion/Spirituality (R/S) including traditional beliefs and practices (TP) play an important role for most people living with HIV (PLWHIV) in Zimbabwe. PLWHIV conceive and practice healing holistically, embracing not only the physical conditions, but also the spiritual, psycho-emotional, social, and ecological dimensions. Objective: This scoping review aims to systematically map the research done around R/S and TP and HIV in Zimbabwe. It intends to describe what is known about the role and influence of R/S on the experience of living with HIV in Zimbabwe in general and especially, to illustrate the influence of R/S and TP on the physical and psychological wellbeing of PLWHIV, and the access to HIV care. Design: This scoping review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute’s guidelines. The online databases Medline & ATLA were used to identify articles published between 2010–2021 about R/S and TP and HIV in Zimbabwe. The review includes textual papers, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed studies. Results: 638 records were found and screened for inclusion. 46 records were considered relevant for the qualitative and quantitative synthesis. Most articles (27) addressed the influence of traditional beliefs and practices on health and HIV and 16 records examined the influence of religious beliefs and religious groups’ attitude on HIV. The qualitative synthesis illustrates the influence of R/S and TP on physical and psychological wellbeing and on access to HIV care of PLWHIV in Zimbabwe, thus portraying the medical relevance of R/S issues and TP. Further synthesis identified three areas of conflict with biomedical practice: The bio-psycho-socio-spiritual understanding of health and illness, the notion of patriarchy, and the perception of sexuality and procreation. Here religious/spiritual ontologies may lead to compromised biomedical therapy outcomes. Conclusion: This scoping review includes papers of authors from different backgrounds (theology, medicine, sociology). The synthesis of the content of the records revealed a coherent picture of themes addressed and problems identified. Thus, this review is a fair description of the experience of living with HIV in Zimbabwe and the medical relevance of R/S and TP. The findings show that religious/spiritual ontologies need to be considered and integrated into the design of new health programs. It must be the aim to avoid compromised therapy outcome and to further a holistic support of PLWHIV. This is only possible in collaboration with religious stakeholders and traditional practitioners.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Center for African Studies, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

  • Psychiatry Department, Midlands State University, Gweru, Zimbabwe

  • National Institute of Health Research, Harare, Zimbabwe

  • National Institute of Health Research, Harare, Zimbabwe

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