Meaning in life and wellbeing in persons suffering from chronic disease in Cape Town, South Africa.
Abstract
Chronic diseases are the leading cause of mortality, morbidity and disability and its prevalence continues to increase. Chronic disease can impact every dimension of a person’s life (physical, psychological, social, spiritual, financial, etc.) and yet research on chronic disease typically focuses on the disease itself and treatment plans rarely include psychological treatment. People are living longer, but they are also living with disability and poor health for longer. Chronic disease can also significantly impact an individual’s meaning in life (MIL). Meaning in life increases wellbeing and has a protective function. But it is not only the presence of meaning in life (POM) that is important, but also the search for meaning in life (SFM). Research on MIL and its association with subjective well-being (SWB) has predominantly focused on “healthy” populations. Usually this investigation explores this association with POM and if SFM is also investigated, the interactional effect between POM and SFM is not considered. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between POM and SFM and (1) subjective wellbeing (SWB) and (2) certain demographic variables in persons with chronic disease.