An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

that allowed her to stay in hospital or at home. She was excused from her daily activitiesduring her stay in hospital but like most people adopting the sick role and staying inhospital was an acceptable option. Her suffering of pain and discomfort was as short livedas possible. She was eager to get back to church and talk about her healing. On the otherhand she may have expected to die as a result of being diagnosed with cancer. Thereforeher suffering may have been more intense than if she had immediately accepted that breastcancer is a treatable condition.According to Wainwright and Calnan (2002) „signing off sick‟ has enabled people to optout of their social responsibilities and in recent years there has been a drive by theDepartment of Health and the Department of Employment to encourage people who havebeen on long term sickness benefit to return to work by offering financial incentives. Olderpeople from developing countries such as the Caribbean are not used to the luxury of beingpaid for being sick. In addition to this, it is regarded as a dishonest action by many churchattendees. An added aspect is that the majority of the people will seek spiritual healing sothat they can continue to work.Seeking spiritual healing before going to the doctor for a medical diagnosis means that theperson has made his own diagnosis. He has probably chosen not to engage with the illnessbehaviour suggested in the sicole model. Zola‟s (1973) typology of the timing ofdecisions to seek medical intervention showed that many people tolerated symptomsbefore seeking a diagnosis and treatment from a healthcare professional. Those whoperceive themselves to be suffering may respond to external and internal triggers by settinga deadline to feel better. For example they may say ”If I don‟t feel better after church onSunday I will go to the doctor on Monday”. Sunday, being the day when they actively see203