Quality of life, subjective well-being, and religiosity in Muslim college students

Randomized Controlled Crime: Postcolonial Sciences in Alternative Medicine Research

Notes:

• The ambiguous terrain of ‘fact-making’ in biomedical clinical research is explored by way of an investigation of the criminalization of Tibetan medicine and Tibetan medical practitioners who participate in the global pharmaceutical pursuit of new medical products. Transcultural encounters between biomedical research interests and Tibetan medical practitioners suggest the production of awkward alliances between the state, markets, and measures of medical efficacy on an uneven global playing field. Moving beyond the possibility that a postcolonial science will be inherently hybrid, this paper seeks to uncover the inequalities of such hybrid-making encounters. When ‘medical facts’ must be derived from ‘magical beliefs’ in the centres of biomedical science, the state often intervenes to criminalize practitioners of alternative medicine. But, when profits are to be made on the fact that ‘the magical’ sells in alternative medicine, the state also makes it possible to shift ownership of medical knowledge, sometimes by way of the randomized controlled trial and the pursuit of active ingredients. The possibility of relocating the label of ‘crime’ is explored in this paper by way of an inquiry into processes that enable this shift in ownership, and a relocation of what constitutes medical ‘fact’ versus ‘belief’.

Ethical considerations of complementary and alternative medical therapies in conventional medical settings

Tags:

• Adenocarcinoma
• Carcinoma in Situ
• Complementary Therapies
• Decision Making
• Ethics, Medical
• Female
• Humans
• Middle Aged
• Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
• Ovarian Neoplasms
• Physician-Patient Relations
• Referral and Consultation
• Risk Assessment
• Treatment Refusal
• Truth Disclosure
• Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

Notes:

• Increasing use of complementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapies by patients, health care providers, and institutions has made it imperative that physicians consider their ethical obligations when recommending, tolerating, or proscribing these therapies. The authors present a risk-benefit framework that can be applied to determine the appropriateness of using CAM therapies in various clinical scenarios. The major relevant issues are the severity and acuteness of illness; the curability of the illness by conventional forms of treatment; the degree of invasiveness, associated toxicities, and side effects of the conventional treatment; the availability and quality of evidence of utility and safety of the desired CAM treatment; the level of understanding of risks and benefits of the CAM treatment combined with the patient’s knowing and voluntary acceptance of those risks; and the patient’s persistence of intention to use CAM therapies. Even in the absence of scientific evidence for CAM therapies, by considering these relevant issues, providers can formulate a plan that is clinically sound, ethically appropriate, and targeted to the unique circumstances of individual patients. Physicians are encouraged to remain engaged in problem-solving with their patients and to attempt to elucidate and clarify the patient’s core values and beliefs when counseling about CAM therapies.

Biomedical research ethics: an Islamic view, part I

Tags:

• Bioethical Issues
• Biomedical Research
• Ethics, Research
• Humans
• ISLAM

Notes:

• Most of the currently accepted western basic principles of ethics in research are consistent with the instructions of Islam. This statement may come as a surprise to some western researchers. In this article, I will discuss why Islam rejects secularization and this is not because the ethical principles embedded in Islam’s teachings are archaic and out of touch with current realities. In addition, I will point out the agreement between general broad principles of research ethics and Islamic teachings concerning life; this would show clearly that Islam has addressed the regulation of ethics in research more than 14 centuries ago.

Biomedical research ethics: an Islamic view, part II

Tags:

• Adult
• Age Factors
• Attitude
• Bioethics
• Child
• Ethics, Research
• Female
• Humans
• Informed Consent
• ISLAM
• Male
• Parental Consent
• Sex Factors
• Third-Party Consent
• Women's Rights

Notes:

• In part I of this article I discussed why Islam rejects secularization and this is not because the ethical principles embedded in Islam’s teachings are archaic and out of touch with current realities. In addition, I pointed out the agreement between general broad principles of research ethics and Islamic teachings concerning life; which showed clearly that Islam has addressed the regulation of ethics in research more than 14 centuries ago. In this part, I will address two controversial issues concerning women’s rights and age of consent for children as possible research subjects in a Muslim community.

Spiritual crisis: a concept analysis

Tags:

• Adult
• Aged, 80 and over
• Female
• Holistic Health
• Holistic Nursing
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Religion and Psychology
• spirituality

Notes:

• This paper is a report of an analysis of the concept of spiritual crisis. People with terminal illness, depression, and those who are grieving losses may be at special risk of spiritual crisis. The literature suggests an interdisciplinary approach, nurses’ self-exploration of spirituality, and refraining from defining spirituality by religious affiliation as part of improving practice.

Nursing with dignity. Part 8: Islam

Tags:

• Attitude to Health
• Cultural Diversity
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Religion and Psychology
• Transcultural Nursing

Notes:

• This article describes the main teachings and customs of Islam. It offers some guidelines to enable nurses to provide sensitive and appropriate care to Muslim patients.

Ethical guidelines in genetics and genomics. An Islamic perspective

Tags:

• Female
• Genetic Counseling
• Genetic Diseases, Inborn
• Genetics
• Genome, Human
• Guidelines as Topic
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Male
• Middle East
• Religion and Medicine

Notes:

• We are at a time of unprecedented increase in knowledge of rapidly changing technology. Such biotechnology especially when it involves human subjects raises complex ethical, legal, social and religious issues. A World Health Organization expert consultation concluded that “genetics advances will only be acceptable if their application is carried out ethically, with due regard to autonomy, justice, education and the beliefs and resources of each nation and community.” Public health authorities are increasingly concerned by the high rate of births with genetic disorders especially in developing countries where Muslims are a majority. Therefore, it is imperative to scrutinize the available methods of prevention and management of genetic disorders. A minimum level of cultural awareness is a necessary prerequisite for the delivery of care that is culturally sensitive, especially in Islamic countries. Islam presents a complete moral, ethical, and medical framework, it is a religion which encompasses the secular with the spiritual, the mundane with the celestial and hence forms the basis of the ethical, moral and even juridical attitudes and laws towards any problem or situation. Islamic teachings carry a great deal of instructions for health promotion and disease prevention including hereditary and genetic disorders, therefore, we will discuss how these teachings play an important role in the diagnostic, management and preventive measures including: genomic research; population genetic screening pre-marital screening, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis; assisted reproduction technology; stem cell therapy; genetic counseling and others.

Counselling about genetic disease: an Islamic perspective

Tags:

• Attitude to Health
• Confidentiality
• Consanguinity
• Genetic Counseling
• Genetic Diseases, Inborn
• Genetic Screening
• Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
• Human Rights
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Marriage
• Middle East
• Patient Advocacy
• Preimplantation Diagnosis
• Premarital Examinations
• Religion and Medicine
• Religion and Psychology
• Reproduction

Notes:

• Genetic counselling is the process by which an individual or a family obtains information about a genetic condition that may affect them, so that they can take the appropriate decisions about marriage, reproduction and health management. Islamic teaching encourages counselling and stresses that the counsellor should be considerate, compassionate and should keep the secrets of the person or family involved. He/she should not impose his/her views on the clients. Some Arab countries encourage premarital medical examination to detect carriers of common hereditary diseases such as thalassaemia. However, this is still controversial, as it infringes the human rights of individuals. Reproductive options open to carriers of hereditary diseases are outlined in this paper, such as prenatal diagnosis, adoption, donation of a sperm, ova or preembryo and preimplantation diagnosis, and their acceptability within Islam is discussed.

Spirituality, healing and medicine

Tags:

• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Attitude to Health
• Complementary Therapies
• Family Practice
• Humans
• Mental Healing
• Professional Practice

Notes:

• The natural science base of modern medicine influences the way in which medicine is delivered and may ignore the spiritual factors associated with illness. The history of spirituality in healing presented here reflects the growth of scientific knowledge, demands for religious renewal, and the shift in the understanding of the concept of health within a broader cultural context. General practitioners have been willing to entertain the idea of spiritual healing and include it in their daily practice, or referral network. Recognizing patients’ beliefs in the face of suffering is an important factor in health care practice.

The 3 H and BMSEST models for spirituality in multicultural whole-person medicine

Tags:

• Cultural Diversity
• Education, Medical
• Holistic Health
• Humans
• Mind-Body Relations (Metaphysics)
• Models, Biological
• Models, Psychological
• Psychophysiology
• Religion and Medicine
• spirituality

Notes:

• Purpose: The explosion of evidence in the last decade supporting the role of spirituality in whole-person patient care has prompted proposals for a move to a biopsychosocial-spiritual model for health. Making this paradigm shift in today’s multicultural societies poses many challenges, however. This article presents 2 theoretical models that provide common ground for further exploration of the role of spirituality in medicine. Methods: The 3 H model (head, heart, hands) and the BMSEST models (body, mind, spirit, environment, social, transcendent) evolved from the author’s 12-year experience with curricula development regarding spirituality and medicine, 16-year experience as an attending family physician and educator, lived experience with both Hinduism and Christianity since childhood, and a lifetime study of the world’s great spiritual traditions. The models were developed, tested with learners, and refined. Results: The 3 H model offers a multidimensional definition of spirituality, applicable across cultures and belief systems, that provides opportunities for a common vocabulary for spirituality. Therapeutic options, from general spiritual care (compassion, presence, and the healing relationship), to specialized spiritual care (eg, by clinical chaplains), to spiritual self-care are discussed. The BMSEST model provides a conceptual framework for the role of spirituality in the larger health care context, useful for patient care, education, and research. Interactions among the 6 BMSEST components, with references to ongoing research, are proposed. Conclusions: Including spirituality in whole-person care is a way of furthering our understanding of the complexities of human health and well-being. The 3 H and BMSEST models suggest a multidimensional and multidisciplinary approach based on universal concepts and a foundation in both the art and science of medicine.

A spirituality and medicine elective for senior medical students: 4 years' experience, evaluation, and expansion to the family medicine residency

Tags:

• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Catholicism
• Clinical Clerkship
• Clinical Competence
• Curriculum
• Family Practice
• Hinduism
• Humans
• Internship and Residency
• New York
• Pastoral Care
• Program Development
• Program Evaluation
• Rhode Island
• Schools, Medical
• spirituality
• Students, Medical

Notes:

• Background: Evidence suggests that spirituality is important in patient care and medical education, yet there are few reports of spirituality and medicine curricular evaluation. Methods: We developed, implemented, and evaluated a 17-hour elective on spirituality and patient care for 4 consecutive years. We presented the elective to 10 fourth-year medical students (MS4s) in years one and two and to eight MS4s and 15 residents, faculty, and staff in years three and four. We evaluated knowledge and skills using pre-course and post-course questionnaires and written cases and learner satisfaction using course evaluations. Results: Students’ knowledge improved on the evidence about spirituality, clinical resources, role of chaplains, approaches to patient care, and recognizing spiritual distress. Reported course strengths included diversity of topics and instructors, universal principles, small-group format, case discussions, and opportunity for self-reflection. Comments reflected enhanced value in the “meaning in medicine” and “whole person care.” Conclusions: Senior medical students rated the elective positively and increased their knowledge of spirituality and medicine. It was also positively received by residents, faculty, and staff and paved the way for residency curricula in this subject.

Toward competency-based curricula in patient-centered spiritual care: recommended competencies for family medicine resident education

Prayer and healing: A medical and scientific perspective on randomized controlled trials

Notes:

• This article provides a critical analysis of three types of prayer studies on scientific (methodological) and philosophical grounds and concludes that any future research into the effectiveness of prayer in healing will inevitably run up against these problems.

Political bias, moral values, and spirituality in the training of psychotherapists

Tags:

• Humans
• Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Religion and Psychology
• Social Values

Notes:

• Today psychotherapists face a challenge quite different from Karl Menninger’s early efforts to foster an understanding between the new science of psychiatry and traditional religion. Today the mental health sciences are struggling with the contradictions and conflicts about society’s values and spirituality that are currently vexing us all. The challenge today for psychotherapists is how to address values and spirituality professionally, ethically, and usefully in our work. This article looks at the scope of the task of training psychotherapists to work with values and spirituality in today’s climate of amorphous values and culture wars.

The State of Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Pediatric Rheumatology

Tags:

• complementary and alternative medicine
• Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
• Pediatric rheumatology

Why Patients Use Alternative Medicine: Results of a National Study

Notes:

• Context.-- Research both in the United States and abroad suggests that significant numbers of people are involved with various forms of alternative medicine. However, the reasons for such use are, at present, poorly understood. Objective.-- To investigate possible predictors of alternative health care use. Methods.-- Three primary hypotheses were tested. People seek out these alternatives because (1) they are dissatisfied in some way with conventional treatment; (2) they see alternative treatments as offering more personal autonomy and control over health care decisions; and (3) the alternatives are seen as more compatible with the patients’ values, worldview, or beliefs regarding the nature and meaning of health and illness. Additional predictor variables explored included demographics and health status. Design.-- A written survey examining use of alternative health care, health status, values, and attitudes toward conventional medicine. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used in an effort to identify predictors of alternative health care use. Setting and Participants.-- A total of 1035 individuals randomly selected from a panel who had agreed to participate in mail surveys and who live throughout the United States. Main Outcome Measure.-- Use of alternative medicine within the previous year. Results.-- The response rate was 69%.The following variables emerged as predictors of alternative health care use: more education (odds ratio [OR], 1.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-1.3); poorer health status (OR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.5); a holistic orientation to health (OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1-1.9); having had a transformational experience that changed the person’s worldview (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.3-2.5); any of the following health problems: anxiety (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.6-6.0); back problems (OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.7-3.2); chronic pain (OR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.1-3.5); urinary tract problems (OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.3-3.5); and classification in a cultural group identifiable by their commitment to environmentalism, commitment to feminism, and interest in spirituality and personal growth psychology (OR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.4-2.7). Dissatisfaction with conventional medicine did not predict use of alternative medicine. Only 4.4% of those surveyed reported relying primarily on alternative therapies. Conclusion.-- Along with being more educated and reporting poorer health status, the majority of alternative medicine users appear to be doing so not so much as a result of being dissatisfied with conventional medicine but largely because they find these health care alternatives to be more congruent with their own values, beliefs, and philosophical orientations toward health and life.

A review of the incorporation of complementary and alternative medicine by mainstream physicians

Tags:

• Acupuncture Therapy
• Adult
• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Chiropractic
• Complementary Therapies
• Homeopathy
• Humans
• Massage
• Physicians
• Phytotherapy
• Referral and Consultation

Notes:

• Background: Studies suggest that between 30% and 50% of the adult population in industrialized nations use some form of complementary and/or alternative medicine (CAM) to prevent or treat a variety of health-related problems. Method: A comprehensive literature search identified 25 surveys conducted between 1982 and 1995 that examined the practices and beliefs of conventional physicians with regard to 5 of the more prominent CAM therapies: acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, herbal medicine, and massage. Six studies were excluded owing to their methodological limitations. Results: Across surveys, acupuncture had the highest rate of physician referral (43%) among the 5 CAM therapies, followed by chiropractic (40%) and massage (21%). Rates of CAM practice by conventional physicians varied from a low of 9% for homeopathy to a high of 19% for chiropractic and massage therapy. Approximately half of the surveyed physicians believed in the efficacy of acupuncture (51%), chiropractic (53%), and massage (48%), while fewer believed in the value of homeopathy (26%) and herbal approaches (13%). Conclusions: This review suggests that large numbers of physicians are either referring to or practicing some of the more prominent and well-known forms of CAM and that many physicians believe that these therapies are useful or efficacious. These data vary considerably across surveys, most likely because of regional differences and sampling methods, suggesting the need for more rigorous surveys using national, representative samples. Finally, outcomes studies are needed so that physicians can make decisions about the use of CAM based on scientific evidence of efficacy rather than on regional economics and cultural norms.

Mind-Body Medicine: State of the Science, Implications for Practice

Notes:

• Background: Although emerging evidence during the past several decades suggests that psychosocial factors can directly influence both physiologic function and health outcomes, medicine had failed to move beyond the biomedical model, in part because of lack of exposure to the evidence base supporting the biopsychosocial model. The literature was reviewed to examine the efficacy of representative psychosocial-mind-body interventions, including relaxation, (cognitive) behavioral therapies, meditation, imagery, biofeedback, and hypnosis for several common clinical conditions. Methods: An electronic search was undertaken of the MEDLINE, PsycLIT, and the Cochrane Library databases and a manual search of the reference sections of relevant articles for related clinical trials and reviews of the literature. Studies examining mind-body interventions for psychological disorders were excluded. Owing to space limitations, studies examining more body-based therapies, such as yoga and tai chi chuan, were also not included. Data were extracted from relevant systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and randomized controlled trials. Results: Drawing principally from systematic reviews and meta-analyses, there is considerable evidence of efficacy for several mind-body therapies in the treatment of coronary artery disease (eg, cardiac rehabilitation), headaches, insomnia, incontinence, chronic low back pain, disease and treatment-related symptoms of cancer, and improving postsurgical outcomes. We found moderate evidence of efficacy for mind-body therapies in the areas of hypertension and arthritis. Additional research is required to clarify the relative efficacy of different mind-body therapies, factors (such as specific patient characteristics) that might predict more or less successful outcomes, and mechanisms of action. Research is also necessary to examine the cost offsets associated with mind-body therapies. Conclusions: There is now considerable evidence that an array of mind-body therapies can be used as effective adjuncts to conventional medical treatment for a number of common clinical conditions.

Aesthetic surgery and religion: Islamic law perspective

Tags:

• Arabs
• Attitude to Health
• Cultural Characteristics
• Ethics, Medical
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Reconstructive Surgical Procedures
• Religion and Medicine
• Social Justice
• Social Values
• Surgery, Plastic

Notes:

• Background: Plastic surgeons are called upon to perform aesthetic surgery on patients of every gender, race, lifestyle, and religion. Currently, it may seem natural that cosmetic surgery should be perceived as permissible, and in our modern liberal age, it seems strange to attempt justifying certain surgical acts in the light of a particular cultural or religious tradition. Yet every day, cruel realities demonstrate that although the foremost intention of any scripture or tradition has been mainly to promote religious and moral values, most religions, including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, invariably affect human behavior and attitude deeply, dictating some rigid positions regarding critical health issues. Methods: A Web search was conducted, and the literature was reviewed using the Medline search tool. Results: Islamic law closely regulates and governs the life of every Muslim. Bioethical deliberation is inseparable from the religion itself, which emphasizes continuities between body and mind, between material and spiritual realms, and between ethics and jurisprudence. Conclusions: The rule in Islam is that individuals should be satisfied with the way Allah has created them. Islam welcomes, however, the practice of plastic surgery as long as it is done for the benefit of patients. Even if it clearly considers “changing the creation of Allah” as unlawful, Islamic law is ambiguous regarding cosmetic surgery. Its objection to cosmetic surgery is not absolute. It is rather an objection to exaggeration and extremism. It has been mentioned that “Allah is beautiful and loves beauty.”

Benefits, barriers, and cues to action of yoga practice: a focus group approach

Tags:

• Adult
• Attitude to Health
• Female
• Focus Groups
• Health Behavior
• Humans
• Male
• Mid-Atlantic Region
• Middle Aged
• Outcome Assessment (Health Care)
• Perception
• Physical Fitness
• Postural Balance
• Qualitative Research
• Stress, Psychological
• yoga

Integrating Western medicine and Traditional Chinese medicine in GP surgeries and the community: a review of the two pilot schemes

Tags:

• Complementary Therapies
• England
• Family Practice
• Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
• Holistic Health
• Humans
• Medicine, Chinese Traditional
• Mental Disorders
• Pilot Projects
• Program Evaluation

Notes:

• The popularity of complementary medicine has been relentless over the past decade. Among the most popular are Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which has a long and unbroken history. This article reports on two integrated health care pilot schemes where TCM and Western medicine are merged, to varying degrees, for the benefits of patients. One of the schemes focuses on general medicine whilst the other focuses on mental health. The authors conclude that the integrated schemes have many advantages and, on the whole, are beneficial for patients. The issues involved and learning points are discussed.

How can the 'materialist' nurse provide spiritual support?

Tags:

• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Humans
• Nurse's Role
• Palliative Care
• Philosophy, Nursing
• Secularism
• spirituality

Derivative benefits: exploring the body through complementary and alternative medicine

Tags:

• Acupuncture Therapy
• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Attitude to Health
• Complementary Therapies
• Female
• Health Behavior
• Humans
• Internal-External Control
• Interviews as Topic
• Male
• Massage
• Meditation
• Middle Aged
• Patient Acceptance of Health Care
• Patient Satisfaction
• Young Adult

Notes:

• Since the 1960s, in Western societies, there has been a striking growth of consumer interest in complementary or alternative medicine (CAM). In order to make this increased popularity intelligible this paper challenges stereotypical images of users’ motives and the results of clinical studies of CAM by exploring bodily experiences of acupuncture, reflexology treatments, and mindfulness training. The study draws on 138 in-depth interviews with 46 clients, client diaries and observations of 92 clinical treatments in order to identify bodily experiences of health and care: experiences that are contested between forces of mastery, control and resistance. We discuss why clients continue to use CAM even when the treatments do not help or even after they have been relieved of their physiological or mental problems. The encounter between the client and CAM produces derivative benefits such as a fresh and sustained sense of bodily responsibility that induces new health practices.

Derivative benefits: exploring the body through complementary and alternative medicine

Tags:

• Acupuncture Therapy
• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Attitude to Health
• Complementary Therapies
• Female
• Health Behavior
• Humans
• Internal-External Control
• Interviews as Topic
• Male
• Massage
• Meditation
• Middle Aged
• Patient Acceptance of Health Care
• Patient Satisfaction
• Young Adult

Clinical implications of research on religion, spirituality, and mental health

Tags:

• Adaptation, Psychological
• Curriculum
• Humans
• Internship and Residency
• Mental Disorders
• mental health
• Psychiatry
• Religion and Psychology
• Religious Philosophies
• Research
• Social Values
• spirituality

A randomized community-based intervention trial comparing faith community nurse referrals to telephone-assisted physician appointments for health fair participants with elevated blood pressure

Creating a spiritual tapestry: nurses' experiences of delivering spiritual care to patients in an Irish hospice

Tags:

• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Awareness
• Empathy
• Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
• Holistic Health
• Hospice Care
• Humans
• Ireland
• Models, Nursing
• Models, Psychological
• Nurse-Patient Relations
• Nurse's Role
• Nursing Assessment
• Nursing Methodology Research
• Nursing Staff
• Pastoral Care
• Qualitative Research
• Questionnaires
• Self Efficacy
• spirituality
• Time Factors

Cancer--an ayurvedic perspective

Tags:

• Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic
• Humans
• Medicine, Ayurvedic
• Neoplasms
• Plants, Medicinal

Notes:

• An integrated approach is needed to manage cancer using the growing body of knowledge gained through scientific developments. Thousands of herbal and traditional compounds are being screened worldwide to validate their use as anti-cancerous drugs. The science of Ayurveda is supposed to add a step on to the curative aspects of cancers that have resemblance with clinical entities of arbuda and granthi mentioned in Sushrutha samhita. Hence, an attempt is made in this review to discuss about the pathology and therapeutic management of various cancers described in Ayurveda. Review of literature on anticancer drugs of plant origin revealed identification of newer ayurvedic drugs that are not mentioned in the ancient texts. These new findings add up to ayurvedic science that has been developed through ages. In addition, details of experimental and clinical studies conducted on single and compound ayurvedic preparations for their anticancer efficacy strongly emphasize ayurvedic therapy as a scientifically driven one and not simply unconventional.

Teaching on the spiritual dimension in care to undergraduate nursing students: the content and teaching methods

Tags:

• Adult
• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Curriculum
• Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate
• Educational Measurement
• Female
• Health Services Needs and Demand
• Holistic Health
• Humanism
• Humans
• Male
• Malta
• Models, Educational
• Models, Nursing
• Nurse's Role
• Nursing Assessment
• Nursing Education Research
• Nursing Methodology Research
• Organizational Objectives
• Philosophy, Nursing
• Program Evaluation
• Psychology, Educational
• spirituality
• Students, Nursing
• Teaching

Notes:

• The study unit on ‘The spiritual dimension in care’ had a Judeo-Christian orientation. It was introduced to the Diploma nursing curriculum at the University of Malta in the academic year 2002-2003. The aim was to increase students’ awareness about the essence of spirituality in care so as to enable them to implement holistic care.

Spiritual coping strategies: a review of the nursing research literature

Tags:

• Adaptation, Psychological
• Disease
• Holistic Nursing
• Humans
• Religion and Medicine

Notes:

• This paper reviews some of the limited nursing research-based literature, orientated towards the use of spiritual coping strategies in illness. This review aims at identifying those spiritual coping strategies used by the believers and nonbelievers followed by implications for holistic nursing care. This review suggests that the onset of illness may render the individual, being a believer or nonbeliever to realize the lack of control over his/her life. However, the use of spiritual coping strategies may enhance self-empowerment, leading to finding meaning and purpose in illness.

American Acupuncture and Efficacy: Meanings and Their Points of Insertion

Notes:

• By its very definition, efficacy’s meanings remain fluid, their particularities contingent on context. The change seen as significant may occur on a symbolic level or through the removal of physical symptoms. It may address conditions of a social body. Some discussions differentiate between “healing” and “curing.” Many of these meanings surface when examining what efficacy means in the practice of acupuncture in the United States. This complex phenomenon is possible largely because acupuncture draws on the qi paradigm on the one hand, allowing for the most ephemeral dimensions of experience to be included in considerations of efficacy. On the other hand, in the most material sense, acupuncture is also susceptible to being conceptualized as a device, independent of that same paradigm, allowing for the insertion of biomedical models and criteria. Pluralism within acupuncture itself intersects with, and even embodies, the medical pluralism of U.S. culture.

The psychologizing of Chinese healing practices in the United States

Tags:

• Acupuncture Therapy
• Affect
• China
• Culture
• Humans
• Language
• Medicine, Chinese Traditional
• Mental Healing
• Psychotherapy
• Religion and Psychology
• Spiritualism
• United States

Notes:

• This paper explores ways in which Chinese healing practices have undergone acculturation in the United States since the early 1970s. Reacting to what is perceived as biomedicine’s focus on the physiological, those who describe themselves as favoring a holistic orientation often use the language of “energy blockage” to explain illness, whether thought of as “physical,” “emotional,” or “spiritual.” Acupuncture in particular has been appropriated as one modality with which to “unblock” such conditions, leading to its being used by some practitioners in conjunction with more psychotherapeutic approaches which include valuing the verbalizing of feelings. Some non-Chinese practitioners in the United States, returning to older Chinese texts to develop “an American acupuncture,” are reinserting diagnoses eliminated from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) by the People’s Republic of China as “superstition.” The assumption has been that many such diagnostic categories refer to psychological or spiritual conditions, and therefore may be useful in those American contexts which favor this orientation. Among these categories are those drawn from traditions of demonology in Chinese medicine. What was once a religious category in China turns psychological in the American setting. At the same time, many who use these terms have, since the late 1960s, increasingly conflated the psychological and the religious, the latter being reframed as “spiritual.” Thus, this indigenization of Chinese practices is a complex synthesis which can be described as simultaneously medical, psychotherapeutic, and religious.

Cognitive Process: A Buddhist explanation of information process and its congruent reactions

Notes:

• Applies Buddhist philosophy to cognitive processes; positions BUddha as a cognitive psychologist meditation The author presents a Buddhist understanding of the cognitive process of incoming information, its circulation and its congruent reactions based on the Buddhist spiritual meditative tradition of South and Southeast Asia. He asserts that Buddha can be credited as the first cognitive psychologist who propounded one of the most comprehensive analytic systems of cognitive process with an ultimate aim of achieving an altered psychological state of positive change and equilibrium reaction. Abstract from a paper given at the Epilepsy, Brain and Mind conference in March 2010, in Prague, Czech Republic.

Spirituality: the emperor's new clothes?

Tags:

• Christianity
• existentialism
• Holistic Health
• Humans
• Judaism
• NEEDS assessment
• Nurse's Role
• Nursing Assessment
• Pastoral Care
• Patient Rights
• Philosophy
• Religion and Medicine
• Religion and Psychology
• Semantics
• spirituality

Notes:

• Background: This paper explores the concept of ‘spirituality’ with reference to the Patients’ Charter that stipulates that a person’s religious, spiritual and cultural needs should be respected at all times. Aims and Objectives The aim is to offer a critical analysis of what the word ‘spirituality’ may mean when used in the Patients’ Charter and to explore the implications of this for clinical practice. Design: A critical discussion based on a literature review, examining in particular methodological presuppositions. Methods: The meaning of ‘spirituality’ in the Judaeo-Christian biblical traditions is explored. Some of the heuristic assumptions in contemporary research on ‘spirituality’ are examined. Philosophical (i.e. non-scientific) and scientific questions to do with ‘spirituality’ are disentangled. Results and Conclusions: The paper concludes that: (i) ‘Spirituality’ is an elastic term not capable of universal definition as each person’s spirituality is an individual matter for them and (ii) tools that are being developed for identifying a person’s spirituality run the risk of making wrong presuppositions about what comprises spirituality. Relevance to Clinical Practice: It is unlikely that tools can be developed that are widely applicable for identifying and assessing spirituality.

Nursing as a sign of hope and contradiction in the land of the children of Abraham

Tags:

• Christianity
• Humans
• Interpersonal Relations
• ISLAM
• Israel
• Judaism
• Middle East
• Nursing Care
• Politics

Notes:

• Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank share a small land area and the birthplace of three of the world’s great monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is a land of paradoxes: ancient and modern, religious and secular. Nursing in this unique geographic and historical place struggles with many of the same issues and challenges facing nursing in other modern countries, but it also shines with dramatic episodes of nursing’s ability to be a sign of hope and contradiction.

Nursing with dignity. Part 5: Rastafarianism

Tags:

• Attitude to Health
• Cultural Diversity
• Ethiopia
• Great Britain
• Humans
• Jamaica
• Religion and Psychology
• Transcultural Nursing

The effect of spiritual retreat on nurses' spirituality: a randomized controlled study

Ethical considerations of teaching spirituality in the academy

Notes:

• The purpose of this article is to examine the ethical considerations of teaching spirituality in the academy by describing current trends, issues relevant to nursing education and practice, legitimate concerns of the academy, and the importance of an ethical instructional response when teaching about spirituality. Data supporting the interest and desire by students to explore meaning and purpose in the context of spirituality will be presented.

Help Me Understand: The Use of Story Teaching in Palliative and Hospice Care--The Science, the Benefits, the How To (528): Humanities and Spirituality

Wholeness of healing: an innovative Student-Selected Component introducing United Kingdom medical students to the spiritual dimension in healthcare

Tags:

• Curriculum
• Education, Medical
• Great Britain
• Holistic Health
• Humans
• Program Evaluation
• spirituality
• Students, Medical

Complementary medicine in the primary care setting: Results of a survey of gender and cultural patterns in Israel

Tags:

• Adult
• Aged
• Arabs
• Complementary Therapies
• Data Collection
• Female
• Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
• Humans
• Israel
• Jews
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Primary Health Care
• Sex Distribution

Exploring association of spiritual perspectives with complementary medicine use among patients with Type 2 diabetes in Israel.

Tags:

• Alternative medicine
• DIABETES -- Treatment
• DIABETICS -- Treatment
• Integrative medicine
• Israel
• PATIENTS -- Religious life
• spirituality
• TRADITIONAL medicine
• TRANSCULTURAL medical care

Attitudes of Arab and Jewish patients toward integration of complementary medicine in primary care clinics in Israel: a cross-cultural study

Tags:

• Adult
• Arabs
• Chi-Square Distribution
• Community Health Centers
• Complementary Therapies
• Cross-Cultural Comparison
• Delivery of Health Care, Integrated
• Female
• Humans
• Israel
• Jews
• Logistic Models
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Patient Acceptance of Health Care
• Primary Health Care
• Religion and Medicine
• Young Adult

Is a biopsychosocial-spiritual approach relevant to cancer treatment? A study of patients and oncology staff members on issues of complementary medicine and spirituality

Tags:

• Adult
• Aged
• Attitude to Health
• Complementary Therapies
• Female
• Health Surveys
• Hospitals, Teaching
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Neoplasms
• spirituality

Notes:

• Background: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is increasingly being used by patients with cancer. Objectives Our aim is to compare the attitudes of cancer patients who use CAM to those of nonusers, on issues of CAM, biopsychosocial considerations, and spiritual needs. Methods: Questionnaires were administered to patients and medical care providers in a tertiary teaching hospital with a comprehensive cancer center. Results: Forty-nine percent of the study patients reported integrating CAM into their conventional care. Health care providers considered psychological and spiritual needs as major reasons for CAM use, while patients considered the familial-social aspect to be more important. Conclusions: Cancer patients do not correlate CAM use with spiritual concerns but expect their physicians to attend to spiritual themes. Health care providers involved in oncology cancer care should emphasize spiritual as well as CAM themes. The integration of these themes into a biopsychosocial-spiritual approach may enrich the dialogue between patients and health providers.

Equity and resource allocation in health care: dialogue between Islam and Christianity

Tags:

• Christianity
• Delivery of Health Care
• Health Care Rationing
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Social Justice
• Social Welfare

Notes:

• Inequities in health and health care are one of the greatest challenges facing the international community today. This problem raises serious questions for health care planners, politicians and ethicists alike. The major world religions can play an important role in this discussion. Therefore, interreligious dialogue on this topic between ethicists and health care professionals is of increasing relevance and urgency. This article gives an overview on the positions of Islam and Christianity on equity and the distribution of resources in health care. It has been written in close collaboration and constant dialogue between the two authors coming from the two religions. Although there is no specific concept for the modern term equity in either of the two religions, several areas of agreement have been identified: All human beings share the same values and status, which constitutes the basis for an equitable distribution of rights and benefits. Special provisions need to be made for the most needy and disadvantaged. The obligation to provide equitable health services extends beyond national and religious boundaries. Several areas require intensified research and further dialogue: the relationship between the individual and the community in terms of rights and responsibilities, how to operationalize the moral duty to decrease global inequalities in health, and the understanding and interpretation of human rights in regard to social services.

Challenges and achievements in the development of spiritual-care training and implementation in Israel.

Parish Nursing

Attachments

• Snapshot

Methodological pitfalls in the study of religiosity and spirituality

Tags:

• Data Interpretation, Statistical
• History, 19th Century
• History, 20th Century
• Humans
• Nursing Research
• Religion and Medicine
• Research
• Research Design
• spirituality

Notes:

• The purpose of this study is to review areas of methodological difficulty in the study of religiosity and spirituality by identifying contemporary methodological critiques, critically evaluating the critiques and the underlying issues, and making suggestions for methodological advancement in the field. Three main areas of methodological critique exist: construct measurement, study design, and data analysis.

Alternative mind-body therapies used by adults with medical conditions

Tags:

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Aged
• Anxiety Disorders
• Complementary Therapies
• Depressive Disorder
• Female
• Health Status
• Humans
• Male
• Meditation
• Middle Aged
• Psychophysiology
• Young Adult

Notes:

• Objective: Mind-body therapies (MBT) are used by 16.6% of adults in the United States. Little is known about the patterns of and reasons for use of MBT by adults with common medical conditions. Methods: We analyzed data on MBT use from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey Alternative Medicine Supplement (n=31,044). MBT included relaxation techniques (deep breathing exercises, guided imagery, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation), yoga, tai chi, and qigong. To identify medical conditions associated with use of MBT overall and of individual MBT, we used multivariable models adjusted for sociodemographic factors, insurance status, and health habits. Among users of MBT (n=5170), we assessed which medical conditions were most frequently treated with MBT, additional rationale for using MBT, and perceived helpfulness. Results: We found a positive association between MBT use and several medical conditions including various pain syndromes and anxiety/depression. Among adults using MBT to treat specific medical conditions, MBT was most commonly used for anxiety/depression and musculoskeletal pain syndromes. More than 50% of respondents used MBT in conjunction with conventional medical care, and 20% used MBT for conditions they thought conventional medicine would not help. Overall, we found high rates (68-90%) of perceived helpfulness of MBT for specific medical conditions. Discussion: MBT is commonly used by patients with prevalent medical conditions. Further research is needed to determine the reasons for widespread use of MBT for treatment of specific medical conditions and to evaluate the efficacy of MBT.

Establishing a Parish Nursing Program.

Tags:

• Adult Education
• Church Workers
• Community Health Services
• Health Education
• Nurses
• Religious Organizations

Attachments

• ERIC - Education Resources Information Center

The Art of Contemplative and Mindfulness Practice: Incorporating the Findings of Neuroscience into Pastoral Care and Counseling.

Tags:

• ADAPTABILITY (Psychology)
• CONTEMPLATION
• Counseling
• Interpersonal Relations
• NEUROPLASTICITY
• Neurosciences
• Pastoral Care

T'ai chi and qigong for health: patterns of use in the United States

Notes:

• Background: Little is known in the United States about those who practice t’ai chi and qigong, two mind-body techniques that originated in Asia. Objective: The objective of this study is to characterize use of t’ai chi and qigong for health with regard to sociodemographics, health status, medical conditions, perceptions of helpfulness, and disclosure of use to medical professionals. Methods: We analyzed associations of t’ai chi and qigong use for health using cross-sectional data from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Alternative Medicine Supplement (n = 31,044). The 2002 NHIS estimated the number of t’ai chi and qigong users for health to be 2.5 and 0.5 million persons, respectively. We collapsed t’ai chi and qigong use into a single category (TCQ) for analysis, representing 2.8 million individuals. Results: We found that neither age nor sex was associated with TCQ use. TCQ users were more likely than nonusers to be Asian than white (odds ratio [OR] 2.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.30-3.15), college educated (OR 2.44, 95% CI 1.97-3.03), and less likely to live in the Midwest (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.42-0.96) or the southern United States (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.36-0.72) than the West. TCQ use was associated independently with higher reports of musculoskeletal conditions (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.11-1.83), severe sprains (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.14-2.40), and asthma (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.08-2.10). Half of TCQ users also used yoga for health in the last 12 months. Most TCQ users reported their practice to be important to maintain health, but only a quarter of users disclosed their practice to a medical professional. Conclusions: In the United States, TCQ is practiced for health by a diverse population, and users report benefits for maintaining health. Further research is needed to establish efficacy and safety for target populations, including those with musculoskeletal and pulmonary disease, as well as for preventive health.

Prayer, Science, and the Moral Life of Medicine

Nursing, religiosity, and end-of-life care: interconnections and implications

Tags:

• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Attitude to Death
• Attitude to Health
• Conflict (Psychology)
• Cultural Diversity
• Decision Making
• Dissent and Disputes
• Humanism
• Humans
• Nurse-Patient Relations
• Nurse's Role
• Patient Advocacy
• Philosophy, Nursing
• Religion and Psychology
• Secularism
• spirituality
• Terminal Care
• United States

Notes:

• The influence of religious beliefs and practices at the end of life is underinvestigated. Given nursing’s advocacy role and the intimate and personal nature of the dimensions of religiosity and the end of life, exploring the multidimensional interplay of religiosity and end-of-life care is a significant aspect of the nurse-patient relationship and must be better understood.

Nursing, religiosity, and end-of-life care: interconnections and implications

Tags:

• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Attitude to Death
• Attitude to Health
• Conflict (Psychology)
• Cultural Diversity
• Decision Making
• Dissent and Disputes
• Humanism
• Humans
• Nurse-Patient Relations
• Nurse's Role
• Patient Advocacy
• Philosophy, Nursing
• Religion and Psychology
• Secularism
• spirituality
• Terminal Care
• United States

An overview of 45 published database resources for complementary and alternative medicine

The Work of Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra-Two Holistic Health/New Age Gurus: A Critique of the Holistic Health/New Age Movements

Notes:

• Despite the popular roots of the holistic health/New Age movements, a growing number of biomedical physicians have become proponents of holistic health as well as New Age healing. Over the past two decades, Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra, two biomedically trained physicians, have emerged as the visible and financially successful spokespersons of the movement. This article provides brief biographical sketches of Weil and Chopra and compares and contrasts their respective views on health, illness, healing, and health care. It also considers the response of various biomedical parties to these holistic health/New Age gurus who have attempted to integrate biomedicine and various alternative healing and metaphysical systems. Finally, this article argues that Weil and Chopra both epitomize the limitations of the holistic health/New Age movements, albeit in different ways.

Bioethics for clinicians: 20. Chinese bioethics

Tags:

• Aged
• Attitude to Health
• Bioethics
• Canada
• China
• Confucianism
• Cultural Characteristics
• Decision Making
• Ethics, Medical
• Family Relations
• Humans
• Informed Consent
• Patient Advocacy
• Physician-Patient Relations

Notes:

• Chinese Canadians form one of the largest groups in the Canadian cultural mosaic. Many of the assumptions implicit in a Western autonomy-based approach to bioethical deliberation may not be shared by Chinese Canadians. In traditional Chinese culture, greater social and moral meaning rests in the interdependence of family and community, which overrides self-determination. Consequently, many Chinese may vest in family members the right to receive and disclose information, to make decisions and to organize patient care. Furthermore, interactions between Chinese patients and health care workers may be affected by important differences in values and goals and in the perception of the nature and meaning of illness. Acknowledging and negotiating these differences can lead to considerable improvement in communication and in the quality of care.

Associations between oncology nurses' attitudes toward death and caring for dying patients

Deathbed phenomena and their effect on a palliative care team: a pilot study

Tags:

• Adult
• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Attitude to Death
• dreams
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Palliative Care
• Pilot Projects
• Professional-Patient Relations
• Questionnaires
• spirituality
• Terminally Ill

Notes:

• Anecdotal evidence suggests that death may be heralded by deathbed phenomena (DBP) such as visions that comfort the dying and prepare them spiritually for death. A pilot study looking into the occurrence of DBP was conducted by the palliative care team at Camden Primary Care Trust.

Zen practice: a training method to enhance the skills of clinical social workers

Tags:

• Adult
• Awareness
• Female
• Humans
• Interviews as Topic
• Male
• Meditation
• Middle Aged
• Professional Competence
• Professional-Patient Relations
• Social Work

A study of spirituality and life satisfaction among persons with spinal cord injury

Tags:

• Adult
• Female
• Health Surveys
• Humans
• Male
• Personal Satisfaction
• Quality of Life
• Spinal Cord Injuries
• spirituality
• United States

Notes:

• The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of spirituality and life satisfaction among persons with spinal cord injury. Data analysis indicated that there was a significant positive correlation between life satisfaction and psychological/spiritual factors of the QLI instrument.

Mastery of the mind East and West: excellence in being and doing and everyday happiness

Notes:

• Western psychological research on positive psychology and Buddhism have recently converged in their emphasis on the development of positive states, like states of excellence and everyday happiness. Yet, these traditions differ in their approaches to positive states, with respect to a state-trait and doing-being distinction. Western scientific research on peak performance emphasizes discontinuous, time-limited peak performance states wherein individuals do things extraordinarily well in sports and in the arts. The Eastern spiritual traditions emphasize continuous excellence of being, in the form of traits or character strengths. In both traditions mental imagery is a key ingredient to excellence training. With respect to everyday happiness, Western psychological research has focused on the role of meaning systems in the transformation of flow states into vital engagement in everyday life, while Buddhism stresses the role of meditation training to gain mastery over all levels of mind that leads to everyday happiness. Rorschach and tachistoscopic research on advanced meditators suggests that advance meditators have gained unusual mastery over states of mind not yet documented in the Western psychological research on positive psychology.

Language and the (Im)possibilities of Articulating Spirituality

Parish nursing: nurturing body, mind, spirit, and community

Tags:

• Cooperative Behavior
• Health promotion
• Health Services Research
• Holistic Nursing
• Humans
• Idaho
• Preventive Health Services
• Religion and Medicine
• spirituality

Notes:

• A descriptive study was conducted in the intermountain West to determine how faith communities form parish nursing programs and what their effect is. Parish nurses, parish nurse coordinators from two medical centers, pastors, and hospital chaplains (n = 24) were interviewed and provided documents from their programs. Over time, congregations formed parish nursing/health ministries using strategies in a developmental process. The process involved significant support from the pastor, congregation members, and the parish nurses.

Parish Nursing: Nurturing Body, Mind, Spirit, and Community

Tags:

• collaboration
• disease prevention
• faith community
• Health promotion
• Parish nursing
• RELIGIOUS leaders

Attachments

• Wiley Full Text PDF

Addressing the spiritual & religious needs of persons with profound memory loss

Tags:

• Audiovisual Aids
• Communication
• Cues
• Grief
• Health Facility Environment
• Holistic Health
• Humans
• Memory Disorders
• NEEDS assessment
• Pastoral Care
• Professional-Patient Relations
• Religion and Psychology
• spirituality
• Terminal Care

Spiritual needs of children with complex healthcare needs in hospital

Tags:

• Child
• Health Services Needs and Demand
• Hospitalization
• Humans
• Scotland
• spirituality
• State Medicine

Notes:

• AIMS: To explore the views of hospitalised school-aged children with complex healthcare needs related to spiritual care. This could help inform national policies and raise awareness of the impact that a stay in an acute paediatric hospital can have on the spiritual needs of some of the children who use the NHS. Method: Pictures used in previous (US) studies were used to facilitate story telling, enabling children to talk about concepts that may not have emerged through direct conversation. A convenience sample of five hospitalised children were presented with the pictures one at a time and asked open-ended questions about each picture. Data analysis involved identifying emerging themes from the transcriptions using a grounded theory approach. Findings: The main themes to emerge from the interview data were: the role of the child’s relationships with family, friends and healthcare professionals; the impact of the hospital environment on the child; coping with invasive procedures; belief--children’s views about their health and belief system. Conclusion: There is a need for all healthcare professionals to recognise that children have spiritual needs that can include religious beliefs, and that it is part of their duty of care to attempt to identify and meet such needs.

Spirituality: an analysis of the concept

Tags:

• Holistic Health
• Humans
• Mental Processes
• Nursing Care
• Nursing Research
• religion

Notes:

• Learning to listen for indications of significant relationships and experience of connection is an important skill for the nurse. The nurse needs to be aware of the variety of expressions of spiriting, recognizing that it is often not expressed in traditional religious language. Dealing effectively with spiriting with clients requires an investment of the self, which is an intentional way of being with the client and can be a part of every nurse-client relationship.

The spirituality of dying. Pastoral care's holistic approach is crucial in hospice

Tags:

• Attitude to Death
• Holistic Health
• Hospices
• Humans
• Interpersonal Relations
• Pastoral Care
• Religion and Medicine
• Terminal Care
• United States

Notes:

• Understanding spirituality in a person’s living and dying requires an understanding of religion and theology. Religion is meant to connect us to a caring community and to give us a place on which to stand--a tradition. Theology is a search for meaning. Spirituality is “the life principle that pervades a person’s entire being ... and generates a capacity for transcendent values.”

Toward a unified field of study: longevity, regeneration, and protection of health through meditation and related practices

Tags:

• Health promotion
• Humans
• Longevity
• Meditation
• yoga

Notes:

• The orientation of this volume and the Longevity and Optimal Health: Integrating Eastern and Western Perspectives conference is that there is abundant evidence in the scientific and medical literatures that the diligent practice of certain yoga-meditational regimens can lead to a spectrum of health enhancements, ranging from modest to profound, and that these can be investigated in a scientifically rigorous fashion. This overview will summarize these possibilities regarding improved human longevity, regeneration, and protection of health and serve to introduce the perspectives of conference participants from all of the traditions represented.

Prayers in the clinic: how pediatric physicians respond

Religion and Spirituality: A Barrier and a Bridge in the Everyday Professional Work of Pediatric Physicians

Cultural and spiritual meanings of childbirth. Orthodox Jewish and Mormon women

Tags:

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Attitude to Health
• Canada
• Christianity
• Cultural Characteristics
• Female
• Holistic Nursing
• Humans
• Jews
• Labor, Obstetric
• Middle Aged
• Nursing Methodology Research
• Pastoral Care
• Pregnancy
• Religion and Psychology
• WOMEN

Notes:

• This descriptive, phenomenological study investigated the cultural and spiritual meanings of the childbirth experience from the personal perspectives of 30 Canadian Orthodox Jewish and 30 American Mormon women. Fewer Jewish women had childbirth education and attendance of their partners during childbirth than did Mormon women. Participants in the study, having codified belief systems, expressed the primary importance of bearing children in obedience to religious law. Birth was articulated as a bittersweet paradox, often accompanied by a sense of empowerment. Women described the importance of personal connectedness with others and with God, the importance of childbearing, and the spiritual and emotional dimensions of their childbirth experiences. Religious beliefs help women define the meaning of childbirth and may provide coping mechanisms for the intensity of giving birth. It is essential for holistic nurses to value and acknowledge the cultural and spiritual dimensions of the childbirth experience.

Religiousness is positively associated with quality of life of ALS caregivers

The Placebo Effect and the Molecules of Hope.

Tags:

• CHURCH membership
• Clergy
• Physicians
• PLACEBOS (Medicine)
• WIT & humor

Evolving Conceptions of Mindfulness in Clinical Settings

Tags:

• Attention
• Mechanisms
• Meditation
• Mindfulness
• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Notes:

• A number of issues important to the clinical utility of mindfulness require systematic study. These include the most parsimonious definition of mindfulness for clinical purposes, how mindfulness is best described to be most approachable to patients, and the extent to which mindfulness shares common mechanisms with other mind-body programs. The discussion includes a brief review of the transition of mindfulness from traditional into clinical settings as well as the components commonly contained within clinical descriptions of mindfulness. A model based on facility in the use of attention is proposed, and a description of mechanisms by which attentional skill may lead to the recognition of internal associational processes and account for psychological outcomes is given. Using constructs already familiar to patients, an attention-based conception may also be more accessible to patients than more elaborate descriptions and have greater utility in identifying commonalities that mindfulness training may have with other mind-body programs.

Facing existential realities: exploring barriers and challenges to spiritual nursing care

East meets West: integrating psychotherapy approaches for Muslim women

Tags:

• Arabs
• Attitude to Health
• Cultural Characteristics
• Emigration and Immigration
• Female
• Health Services Needs and Demand
• Holistic Health
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Middle East
• Nursing Methodology Research
• Psychotherapeutic Processes
• United States
• Women's Health
• Women's Health Services

Notes:

• Psychotherapists’ knowledge and understanding of Muslim women’s culture is essential for them to effectively treat patients. Muslim women’s culture is based on Islam, which permeates their thinking patterns, their interaction with themselves and others, and all activities of their daily lives. Western psychotherapy ineffectively treats Muslim women because its individualistic and fragmented method is contrary to the Muslim population’s holistic spiritual approach to life. This article provides a theoretical integration of Eastern and Western therapeutic concepts for Muslim women, to promote a more effective therapeutic approach for this population residing in the United States.

The spiritual and religious identities, beliefs, and practices of academic pediatricians in the United States

Tags:

• Academic Medical Centers
• Adult
• Aged
• Faculty, Medical
• Female
• Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
• Humans
• Logistic Models
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Pediatrics
• Philosophy, Medical
• Physician's Practice Patterns
• Pilot Projects
• Questionnaires
• Religion and Medicine
• Social Identification
• spirituality
• United States

Notes:

• Purpose: Physicians’ spiritual and religious identities, beliefs, and practices are beginning to be explored. The objective of this study was to gather descriptive information about personal religion and spirituality from a random sample of academic American pediatricians and to compare this information with similar data from the public. Method: In 2005, a Web-based survey of a random sample of 208 pediatrician faculty from 13 academic centers ranked by the US News & World Report as “honor roll” hospitals was conducted. Surveys elicited information about personal beliefs and practices as well as their influence on decisions about patient care and clinical practice. Multiple questions were replicated from the General Social Survey to enable comparisons with the public. Descriptive statistics were generated, and logistic regression analyses were conducted on relevant variables. Results: Nearly 88% of respondents were raised in a religious tradition, but just 67.2% claimed current religious identification. More than half (52.6%) reported praying privately; additional spiritual practices reported included relaxation techniques (38.8%), meditation (29.3%), sacred readings (26.7%), and yoga (19%). The majority of academic pediatricians (58.6%) believed that personal spiritual or religious beliefs influenced their interactions with patients/colleagues. These odds increased 5.1-fold when academic pediatricians attended religious services monthly or more (P < .05). Conclusions: Compared with the American public, a notably smaller proportion of academic pediatricians reported a personal religious identity. The majority believed spiritual and religious beliefs influenced their practice of pediatrics. Whether secular or faith-based belief systems measurably modify academic pediatric practice is unknown.

Mestizo spirituality: Toward an integrated approach to psychotherapy for Latina/os

A body-mind-spirit model in health: an Eastern approach

Tags:

• Adult
• Breathing Exercises
• Female
• Grief
• Humans
• Medicine, East Asian Traditional
• Mind-Body Relations (Metaphysics)
• Neoplasms
• Social Work

Notes:

• Under the division of labor of Western medicine, the medical physician treats the body of patients, the social worker attends to their emotions and social relations, while the pastoral counselor provides spiritual guidance. Body, mind, cognition, emotion and spirituality are seen as discrete entities. In striking contrast, Eastern philosophies of Buddhism, Taoism and traditional Chinese medicine adopt a holistic conceptualization of an individual and his or her environment. In this view, health is perceived as a harmonious equilibrium that exists between the interplay of ‘yin’ and ‘yang’: the five internal elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth), the six environmental conditions (dry, wet, hot, cold, wind and flame), other external sources of harm (physical injury, insect bites, poison, overeat and overwork), and the seven emotions (joy, sorrow, anger, worry, panic, anxiety and fear). The authors have adopted a body-mind-spirit integrated model of intervention to promote the health of their Chinese clients. Indeed, research results on these body-mind-spirit groups for cancer patients, bereaved wives and divorced women have shown very positive intervention outcomes. There are significant improvements in their physical health, mental health, sense of control and social support.

Religion, spirituality, health and medicine: why should Indian physicians care?

Tags:

• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Hinduism
• Humans
• India
• Physician's Role
• Religion and Medicine
• spirituality

Notes:

• Religion, spirituality, health and medicine have common roots in the conceptual framework of relationship amongst human beings, nature and God. Of late, there has been a surge in interest in understanding the interplay of religion, spirituality, health and medicine, both in popular and scientific literature. A number of published empirical studies suggest that religious involvement is associated with better outcomes in physical and mental health. Despite some methodological limitations, these studies do point towards a positive association between religious involvement and better health. When faced with disease, disability and death, many patients would like physicians to address their emotional and spiritual needs, as well. The renewed interest in the interaction of religion and spirituality with health and medicine has significant implications in the Indian context. Although religion is translated as dharma in major Indian languages, dharma and religion are etymologically different and dharma is closer to spirituality than religion as an organized institution. Religion and spirituality play important roles in the lives of millions of Indians and therefore, Indian physicians need to respectfully acknowledge religious issues and address the spiritual needs of their patients. Incorporating religion and spirituality into health and medicine may also go a long way in making the practice of medicine more holistic, ethical and compassionate. It may also offer new opportunities to learn more about Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine and have more enriched understanding and collaborative interaction between different systems of medicine. Indian physicians may also find religion and spirituality significant and fulfilling in their own lives.

Surgeons and the spirit: a study on the relationship of religiosity to clinical practice

Tags:

• Data Collection
• Humans
• Patient Care
• Physicians
• Religion and Medicine
• spirituality

Notes:

• This study aimed to identify the religious practices and beliefs of surgeons and the relationship between surgeons’ locus of control and religiosity. Thirty-five surgeons completed a survey that included items from the Duke University Religion Index, the Salesian Center Intrinsic Religiosity Scale for Clinicians, and Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale. Over 68% of sampled surgeons affirmed that their religious beliefs play a part in their practice, 47% attend religious services at least weekly, and 44% pray daily. There was no correlation between locus of control and religiosity. These results challenge the myth of the egocentric, agnostic surgeon.

Experiments on Distant Intercessory Prayer: God, Science, and the Lesson of Massah

Notes:

• EXPERIMENTAL studies on the health effects of distant intercession (prayer) ignore important facets of construct validity, philosophy of science, and theology while focusing on issues like randomization and double-blinding. These tendencies reflect a desire on the part of researchers to remove nature as a causal factor when intercession seems efficacious. We argue that close attention to construct validity of cause-and-effect variables invalidates distant intercessory prayer as a scientific construct. Further, the application of statistical techniques to metaphysical causal phenomena is critiqued. We conclude that research on the effects of religion and spirituality on health should avoid attempting to validate God through scientific methods.

Zen meditation: an integration of current evidence

Tags:

• Cognition Disorders
• Electroencephalography
• Humans
• Hypertension
• Meditation
• Relaxation Therapy
• Stress, Psychological

The Relationship of Nursing Students' Spiritual Care Perspectives to Their Expressions of Spiritual Empathy

Nursing with dignity. Part 3: Christianity I

Tags:

• African Americans
• African Continental Ancestry Group
• Attitude to Health
• Christianity
• Cultural Diversity
• Great Britain
• Humans
• NEEDS assessment
• Religion and Medicine
• State Medicine
• Transcultural Nursing
• West Indies

Mindfulness in Thailand and the United States: a case of apples versus oranges?

Tags:

• Attention
• Awareness
• Buddhism
• Cross-Cultural Comparison
• Factor Analysis, Statistical
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Meditation
• Models, Psychological
• Questionnaires
• Self Assessment (Psychology)
• Self Concept
• Thailand
• United States
• Young Adult

Notes:

• The study and practice of mindfulness is rapidly expanding in Western psychology. Recently developed self-report measures of mindfulness were derived from Western operationalizations and cross-cultural validation of many of these measures is lacking, particularly in Buddhist cultures. Therefore, this study examined the measurement equivalence of the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS) and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) among Thai (n=385) and American (n=365) college students. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis models fit to the data revealed that the KIMS lacked configural invariance across groups, which precluded subsequent invariance tests, and although the MAAS demonstrated configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance, there was no significant latent mean MAAS difference between Thais and Americans. These findings suggest that Eastern and Western conceptualizations of mindfulness may have important differences.

Ethical issues in end-of-life geriatric care: the approach of three monotheistic religions-Judaism, Catholicism, and Islam

Tags:

• Aged
• Catholicism
• Ethics, Medical
• Geriatrics
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Judaism
• Religion and Medicine
• Terminal Care

Notes:

• Ethical dilemmas pervade modern geriatric medicine. What is considered right or wrong will differ depending on, among other things, the patient’s religion. The three Abrahamic monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity (its Catholic variant), and Islam all have carefully considered positions on medical ethics. Although much is held in common, there are significant differences. The authors present three clinical cases, each of which presents ethical dilemmas typical of geriatric care, especially at the end of life. On the basis of these scenarios, the normative ethical position of each religion is compared and contrasted. It is hoped that this approach will offer the geriatrician a useful approach to treating patients in an increasingly multicultural society.

The Ethics of Alternative Medicine Therapies

A critical view of how nursing has defined spirituality

Tags:

• Adaptation, Psychological
• Evidence-Based Nursing
• Humans
• Nursing Process
• religion
• spirituality
• Stress, Psychological

Notes:

• AIMS: To offer a detailed discussion of the issue of ‘lack of critique’ in the literature on spirituality in nursing. The discussion will include the limited use of sources from theology and religious studies and the demand to separate spirituality and religion and will go on to examine the consequences of the resulting approach.

A critical view of how nursing has defined spirituality

The integration of complementary therapies in Australian general practice: results of a national survey

Tags:

• Adult
• Aged
• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Australia
• Complementary Therapies
• Delivery of Health Care, Integrated
• Family Practice
• Female
• Health Services Needs and Demand
• Health Services Research
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Physician's Practice Patterns
• Primary Health Care
• Questionnaires

Notes:

• Methods: Australian general practitioners’ (GPs) attitudes toward and use of a range of complementary therapies (CTs) were determined through a self-administered postal survey sent to a random sample of 2000 Australian GPs. The survey canvassed GPs’ opinions as to the harmfulness and effectiveness of CTs; current levels of training and interest in further training; personal use of, and use in practice of, CTs; referrals to CT; practitioners; appropriateness for GPs to practice and for government regulation; perceived patient demand and the need for undergraduate education. Results: The response rate was 33.2%. Based on GPs’ responses, complementary therapies could be classified into: nonmedicinal and nonmanipulative therapies, such as acupuncture, massage, meditation, yoga, and hypnosis, that were seen to be highly effective and safe; medicinal and manipulative therapies, including chiropractic, Chinese herbal medicine, osteopathy, herbal medicine, vitamin and mineral therapy, naturopathy, and homeopathy, which more GPs considered potentially harmful than potentially effective; and esoteric therapies, such as spiritual healing, aromatherapy, and reflexology, which were seen to be relatively safe yet also relatively ineffective. The risks of CTs were seen to mainly arise from incorrect, inadequate, or delayed diagnoses and interactions between complementary medications and pharmaceuticals, rather than the specific risks of the therapies themselves. Conclusions: Nonmedicinal therapies along with chiropractic are widely accepted in Australia and can be considered mainstream. GPs are open to training in complementary therapies, and better communication between patients and GPs about use of CTs is required to minimize the risk of adverse events. There is also a need to prioritize and provide funding for further research into the potential adverse events from these therapies and other therapies currently lacking an evidence base.

Nursing with dignity. Part 1: Judaism

Tags:

• Abortion, Induced
• Autopsy
• Blood Transfusion
• Circumcision, Male
• Contraception
• Euthanasia
• Great Britain
• Humans
• Judaism
• Sexuality

Moving Beyond Health to Flourishing: The Effects of Yoga Teacher Training

Integrating faith and health in the care of persons experiencing homelessness using the Parish Nursing Faculty Practice Model.

Tags:

• community services
• Faith
• Health
• Homeless
• homelessness
• Models
• multipartner service center
• nursing homes
• Parish Nursing Faculty Practice Model
• Risk Factors

The competencies required by professional hospice palliative care spiritual care providers

Does religious activity improve health outcomes? A critical review of the recent literature

Tags:

• Delphi Technique
• Health Behavior
• Health Status
• Humans
• mental health
• Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
• religion
• Religion and Medicine
• Treatment Outcome

Notes:

• Objective: Many Americans use religious activity to cope with stressful life events. Our goal was to review systematically the recent medical literature to assess the role of religion in health outcomes. Data sources: We conducted a comprehensive literature search using MEDLINE to identify studies published in the English language between January 1999 and June 2003 describing the effect of religion on health outcomes. The search strategy used the medical subject headings (MeSH) of religion; religion AND medicine; religion OR intercessory prayer; prayer; prayer therapy; religious rites; faith; medicine, traditional; religiosity; religion AND psychology; and religion AND health. Study selection: Religious, but not spiritual, interventions were selected for inclusion. Thus, papers describing interventions such as yoga, meditation, acupuncture, and qigong were excluded. Manuscripts describing randomized controlled trials, clinical trials, and partnerships with faith-based organizations were included. Data extraction: We found five randomized controlled trials, four clinical trials, and seven faith-based partnerships that describe the impact of religious intervention on health outcomes. Papers were analyzed by four reviewers using a modified Delphi technique to reach consensus. Data synthesis: Religious intervention such as intercessory prayer may improve success rates of in vitro fertilization, decrease length of hospital stay and duration of fever in septic patients, increase immune function, improve rheumatoid arthritis, and reduce anxiety. Frequent attendance at religious services likely improves health behaviors. Moreover, prayer may decrease adverse outcomes in patients with cardiac disease. Conclusions: Religious activity may improve health outcomes.

The Lack of Teaching/Study of Religiosity/Spirituality in Psychology Degree Courses in Brazil: The Need for Reflection

Bioethics for clinicians: 19. Hinduism and Sikhism

Tags:

• Adult
• Bioethics
• Canada
• Cultural Diversity
• Female
• Hinduism
• Humans
• India
• Male
• Physician-Patient Relations
• Religion and Medicine

Notes:

• Hindus and Sikhs constitute important minority communities in Canada. Although their cultural and religious traditions have profound differences, they both traditionally take a duty-based rather than rights-based approach to ethical decision-making. These traditions also share a belief in rebirth, a concept of karma (in which experiences in one life influence experiences in future lives), an emphasis on the value of purity, and a holistic view of the person that affirms the importance of family, culture, environment and the spiritual dimension of experience. Physicians with Hindu and Sikh patients need to be sensitive to and respectful of the diversity of their cultural and religious assumptions regarding human nature, purity, health and illness, life and death, and the status of the individual.

Medicine, Modernization, and Cultural Crisis in China and India

Tags:

• Medicine, Ayurvedic
• Medicine, Oriental

Religion, clinicians, and the integration of complementary and alternative medicines

Tags:

• Acupuncture
• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Complementary Therapies
• Health Care Surveys
• Health Personnel
• Humans
• Integrative medicine
• Naturopathy
• Physicians
• Physician's Practice Patterns
• Religion and Medicine
• spirituality

Notes:

• Objective: The aim of this study was to compare religious characteristics of general internists, rheumatologists, naturopaths, and acupuncturists, as well as to examine associations between physicians’ religious characteristics and their openness to integrating complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Design: The design involved a national mail survey. The subjects were internists, rheumatologists, naturopaths, and acupuncturists. Measures: Physician outcome measures were use of and attitudes toward six classes of CAM. Predictors were religious affiliation, intrinsic religiosity, spirituality, and religious traditionalism. Results: There was a 65% response. Naturopaths and acupuncturists were three times as likely as internists and rheumatologists to report no religious affiliation (35% versus 12%, p < 0.001), but were more likely to describe themselves as very spiritual (51% versus 20%, p < 0.001) and to agree they try to carry religious beliefs into life’s dealings (51% versus 44%, p < 0.01). Among physicians, increased spirituality and religiosity coincided with more personal use of CAM and willingness to integrate CAM into a treatment program. Conclusions: Current and future integrative medicine will be shaped in part by religious and spiritual characteristics of providers.

Religion, clinicians, and the integration of complementary and alternative medicines

Placing Religion and Spirituality in End-of-Life Care

Notes:

• @font-face { font-family: "Garamond"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.BibEntryAnnotation, li.BibEntryAnnotation, div.BibEntryAnnotation { margin: 6pt 0in 0.0001pt 0.25in; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }

  In 1995, the SUPPORT (Study to Understand Prognoses and Preferences for Outcomes and Risks of Treatment) trial stimulated a reexamination of systems of care for seriously ill and dying patients.1 This study has accelerated efforts to improve end-of-life care and has indirectly promoted a rapprochement among religion, spirituality, medicine, and health care.2 The goal of a quality comfortable death is achieved by meeting a patient’s physical needs and by attending to the social, psychological, and the now recognized spiritual and religious dimensions of care.3-4 This perspective is highlighted in a recent consensus statement that includes the assessment and support of spiritual and religious well-being and management of spiritual and religious problems as core principles of professional practice and care at the end of life.5 Yet multiple ethical and pragmatic issues arise. For example, should physicians identify patients’ spiritual and religious needs and intervene in clinical settings? The roles and responsibilities of patients and physicians in this scenario are unclear. An understanding of religion and spirituality within the context of end-of-life care, quality of life, and patient-clinician interactions may illuminate the problems and potentialities for both patients and clinicians.

   

An exploratory study of spiritual care at the end of life

Tags:

• Adult
• Attitude to Death
• Caregivers
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Palliative Care
• Pastoral Care
• Professional-Family Relations
• Professional-Patient Relations
• spirituality
• Terminal Care
• Terminally Ill

Notes:

• Purpose: Although spiritual care is a core element of palliative care, it remains unclear how this care is perceived and delivered at the end of life. We explored how clinicians and other health care workers understand and view spiritual care provided to dying patients and their family members. Methods: Our study was based on qualitative research using key informant interviews and editing analysis with 12 clinicians and other health care workers nominated as spiritual caregivers by dying patients and their family members. Results: Being present was a predominant theme, marked by physical proximity and intentionality, or the deliberate ideation and purposeful action of providing care that went beyond medical treatment. Opening eyes was the process by which caregivers became aware of their patient’s life course and the individualized experience of their patient’s current illness. Participants also described another course of action, which we termed cocreating, that was a mutual and fluid activity between patients, family members, and caregivers. Cocreating began with an affirmation of the patient’s life experience and led to the generation of a wholistic care plan that focused on maintaining the patient’s humanity and dignity. Time was both a facilitator and inhibitor of effective spiritual care. Conclusions: Clinicians and other health care workers consider spiritual care at the end of life as a series of highly fluid interpersonal processes in the context of mutually recognized human values and experiences, rather than a set of prescribed and proscribed roles.

Bioethics for clinicians: 21. Islamic bioethics

Tags:

• Abortion, Induced
• Attitude to Death
• Bioethics
• Canada
• Female
• Fertilization in Vitro
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Male
• Pregnancy
• Religion and Medicine
• Tissue Donors

Notes:

• Islamic bioethics derives from a combination of principles, duties and rights, and, to a certain extent, a call to virtue. In Islam, bioethical decision-making is carried out within a framework of values derived from revelation and tradition. It is intimately linked to the broad ethical teachings of the Qur’an and the tradition of the Prophet Muhammed, and thus to the interpretation of Islamic law. In this way, Islam has the flexibility to respond to new biomedical technologies. Islamic bioethics emphasizes prevention and teaches that the patient must be treated with respect and compassion and that the physical, mental and spiritual dimensions of the illness experience be taken into account. Because Islam shares many foundational values with Judaism and Christianity, the informed Canadian physician will find Islamic bioethics quite familiar. Canadian Muslims come from varied backgrounds and have varying degrees of religious observance. Physicians need to recognize this diversity and avoid a stereotypical approach to Muslim patients.

The management of the Muslim dental patient

Tags:

• Culture
• Dental Care
• Fasting
• Female
• Humans
• ISLAM
• Male
• Toothbrushing

Notes:

• There are aspects of the practice of the religion of Islam that have some relevance to receiving dental treatment. This article aims to provide dentists with background knowledge of normal practices which may affect the treatment offered. The author does not attempt to inform the reader about Islam, but to assist the dentist in the management of a Muslim patient. Much of the content of this article describes how to manage a patient who is fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan takes place this year in early October, lasting for 29 or 30 days. During Ramadan patients may present to dentists with the signs and symptoms described in this article.

Theories and Management of Aging: Modern and Ayurveda Perspectives

Notes:

• Aging is a complex phenomenon, a sum total of changes that occur in a living organism with the passage of time and lead to decreasing ability to survive stress, increasing functional impairment and growing probability of death. There are many theories of aging and skin remains the largest organ of the study. Skin aging is described as a consequence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The most common amongst visible signs of skin aging are wrinkles and there are various therapies including antiaging cosmeceuticals, sunscreens, chemical peeling, injectable agents, such as botox, fibrel, autologous fat grafting as also few surgical procedures have been used. Ayurveda, the Indian traditional medicine, describes aging with great details. This review provides modern and Ayurvedic perspectives on theories and management of aging.

Addressing spirituality in pediatric hospice and palliative care

Tags:

• Adult
• Child
• CHILD psychology
• Family
• Holistic Health
• Humans
• NEEDS assessment
• Nursing Assessment
• Palliative Care
• Pastoral Care
• Pediatrics
• Practice Guidelines as Topic
• Religion and Medicine
• Religion and Psychology
• spirituality

Notes:

• Even though considerable attention has been directed to spiritual issues for adult patients in hospice and palliative care, spirituality in pediatric palliative care has been virtually neglected. The need for guidelines to assess spirituality in this population was identified as a priority issue by members of a subcommittee of the Children’s International Project on Children’s Palliative/Hospice Services.

Spirituality in Nursing: Filipino Elderly's Concept of, Distance from, and Involvement with God.