The Effect of Online Meaning-Centered Therapy alongside Death Awareness on Death Anxiety, Meaning in Life, and Demoralization among Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: The widespread psychological challenges resulting from the secondary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affect nurses' mental health. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of an Online Meaning-Centered Therapy (OMCT) protocol and Awareness of Death (AD) in helping nurses cope with death anxiety, find meaning in life, and deal with feelings of demoralization during the pandemic. Methods: The study used a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test evaluations, a control group, and a three-month follow-up period. The target population was male and female nurses in Corona care departments in Tehran, Iran, from February to May 2021. Thirty nurses were purposefully selected. Fifteen participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group and 15 to the control group. The intervention group received 15 sessions of OMCT and AD, each lasting 54 minutes. The control group did not receive any intervention. Measurement tools included the Persian version of Tampler’s Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), The Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), and the Demoralization Scale (DS). Statistical analysis was done using a t-test and repeated measures ANOVA in SPSS-26. Results: Findings showed no significant differences between the intervention and control groups at the pre-test stage for death anxiety (47.13±6.61 vs 47.60±5.60, p=0.835), meaning in life (50.66±6.45 vs 49.93±8.72, p=0.796), and demoralization (60.26±9.26 vs 61.00±7.65, p=0.813) indicating the positive impact of the intervention in reducing death anxiety, improving meaning in life, and decreasing demoralization in the intervention group.Conclusion: These results indicate that OMCT and AD together have the potential to decrease death anxiety, enhance nurses' sense of Meaning in Life, and relieve feelings of demoralization. Amidst technological progress, the significance of utilizing meaning-centered therapy to address death awareness during times of crisis and suffering and discover ways to find meaning becomes evident.