Investigating Religious and Spiritually Oriented Coping Strategies in the Swedish Context: A Review of the Literature and Directions for Future Research

Abstract

There has not been much systematic research in Sweden examining the existential and spiritual aspects of coping with serious illnesses. Taking one step toward redirecting attention on this research area, this article discusses some findings and barriers that are important when investigating the religious and spiritually oriented coping strategies among ill persons in the context of Swedish culture. The article concludes that a new alternative scale measuring spirituality among ill persons and new models of meaning and importance of religious and spiritual coping with serious illness should be developed from perspectives that consider the cultural context of societies such as Sweden, where people practice “religion” in a spiritual, subjective, and/or nonorganizational way rather than an organizational way and that, therefore, practicing organizational religiousness is not an important health-related measure. The Religious Orientation Scale and Spiritual Assessment Inventory seem to be appropriate methods on which new models can be based.