MEANING AND EXPERIENCES OF SPIRITUALITY AND SPIRITUAL CARE AMONG PEOPLE FROM CHINESE BACKGROUNDS LIVING IN ENGLAND: A GROUNDED THEORY INVESTIGATION

Spiritual care has become a topic of global interest, especially within healthcare context. Despite this growing interest, there is a sparsity of research conducted internationally exploring the understanding of spirituality and spiritual care among people from Chinese backgrounds, particularly those living in the UK. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the meaning of spirituality and spiritual care among this group of people to support the delivery of high-quality care for them.
The aim of this investigation is to understand the meaning and experience of spirituality and spiritual care among people from Chinese backgrounds residing in three regions of England. In order to achieve the aim, a grounded theory design was utilized, based on Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) method to interpret the meaning of spirituality and spiritual care among this group.
Recruitment of participants was through Chinese community centres, using purposive and theoretical sampling methods. Twenty-five participants were recruited after which point data saturation was reached. Participants included 11 males and 14 females, aged between 20 and 82, originating from different regions in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam. Participants held diverse personal, religious and spiritual beliefs. In-depth interviews were conducted to capture the participants’ thoughts and perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care. Transcribed digital recordings were translated into English and imported into NVivo for analysis. Data collection and analysis progressed simultaneously.
Data analysis followed the techniques of open coding, axial coding and selective coding, leading to the development of a substantive theory called ‘Seeking a meaningful life’.