Enhancing illness acceptance and alleviating afflictive emotion for psoriasis patient by integrative body-mind-spirit model

Abstract

BACKGROUND: People with psoriasis normally experience stigmatization and embarrassment which can easily lead to low self-esteem and psychological distress. It is quite common that patient will have difficulties in accepting illness and may suffer from afflictive emotion. Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit (IBMS) is a psychosocial intervention model that is empirically found effective in improving the holistic well-being of various kinds of clientele. This study aims to apply IBMS in improving the psychosocial well-being of people with psoriasis. METHOD: Thirty-nine adults suffering from mild to moderate levels of psoriasis were recruited from a psoriasis patient association in Hong Kong. They were assigned into two groups and each patient attended six 3-hour weekly IBMS intervention group sessions. Outcome measures including Illness Cognition Questionnaire (ICQ) and Holistic Well-Being Scale (HWS), were assessed before (T0) and after intervention (T1). Paired t-tests were conducted to compare the changes between two time points. RESULT: Mean age of the participants was 51.0 (SD=13.1) and the majority of them were male (n=24, 62%). The mean age of onset of disease was 36.0 (SD=16.7) and duration of 13.0 years (SD=10.6). Paired t-test (T1-T0) showed that there were significant improvements in the acceptance score [95% CI: 2.00 (SD=2.87), t=4.36, p < .001] and perceived benefit score [95% CI: 2.05 (SD=3.14), t=4.08, p < .001] of ICQ, and the afflictive emotion score [95% CI: -4.36 (SD=8.09), t=-3.37, p=.002], afflictive sensation score [95% CI: -5.23 (SD=6.12), t=-5.34, p < .001], and non-attachment score [95% CI: 3.10 (SD=8.70), t=2.23, p=.032] of HWS. Other scores in ICQ(helplessness) and HWS(afflictive ideation, mindful-awareness, general vitality, spiritual self) also showed a trend in improvement. CONCLUSION: Results from this study provided clear evidence that the IBMS group intervention could enhance the illness acceptance and alleviate afflictive emotion for people with psoriasis. Prospective randomized-controlled trials were suggested in future study.