Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Anthony Bash |
Abstract | 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. |
Publication | Journal of Clinical Nursing |
Volume | 13 |
Issue | 1 |
Pages | 11-16 |
Date | Jan 2004 |
Journal Abbr | J Clin Nurs |
ISSN | 0962-1067 |
Short Title | Spirituality |
URL | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14687288 |
Accessed | Fri Nov 13 12:38:54 2009 |
Library Catalog | NCBI PubMed |
Extra | PMID: 14687288 |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
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.
Type | Book |
---|---|
Author | R. Barker Bausell |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Date | 2007-10-31 |
ISBN | 0195313682 |
Short Title | Snake Oil Science |
Library Catalog | Amazon.com |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Jeffrey P. Bishop |
Publication | Archives of Internal Medicine |
Volume | 163 |
Issue | 12 |
Pages | 1405-1408 |
Date | June 23, 2003 |
DOI | 10.1001/archinte.163.12.1405 |
URL | http://archinte.ama-assn.org |
Accessed | Tue Oct 13 12:08:47 2009 |
Library Catalog | HighWire |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Hans A. Boer |
Abstract | 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, [holistic health/New Age movements, Andrew Weil, Deepak Chopra] |
Publication | Medical Anthropology Quarterly |
Volume | 17 |
Issue | 2 |
Pages | 233-250 |
Date | 2003 |
DOI | 10.1525/maq.2003.17.2.233 |
Short Title | The Work of Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra-Two Holistic Health/New Age Gurus |
URL | http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.bu.edu/10.1525/maq.2003.17.2.233 |
Accessed | Mon Oct 12 23:28:11 2009 |
Library Catalog | Wiley InterScience |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
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.
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Donald Capps |
Abstract | Taking its point of departure from the author's theory that humor has a placebo effect, this article explores evidence that placebos have a positive biochemical effect, argues on the basis of this evidence that the placebo serves religious ends, and draws implications of this argument for physicians with religious convictions and for pastors who understand themselves to be agents of hope. It specifically argues that physicians should not pray with their patients and pastors should inform their parishioners of the negative as well as the positive effects of religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
Publication | Pastoral Psychology |
Volume | 59 |
Issue | 5 |
Pages | 541-549 |
Date | October 2010 |
DOI | 10.1007/s11089-009-0258-y |
ISSN | 00312789 |
Date Added | Thu Sep 29 08:59:59 2011 |
Modified | Thu Sep 29 08:59:59 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | John T. Chibnall |
Author | Joseph M. Jeral |
Author | Michael A. Cerullo |
Abstract | 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. |
Publication | Archives of Internal Medicine |
Volume | 161 |
Issue | 21 |
Pages | 2529-2536 |
Date | November 26, 2001 |
DOI | 10.1001/archinte.161.21.2529 |
Short Title | Experiments on Distant Intercessory Prayer |
URL | http://archinte.ama-assn.org |
Accessed | Fri Oct 9 13:23:50 2009 |
Library Catalog | HighWire |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
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.
Type | Book |
---|---|
Author | Edzard Ernst |
Publisher | Imprint Academic |
Date | 2008-09-01 |
ISBN | 1845401182 |
Short Title | Healing, Hype, or Harm? |
Library Catalog | Amazon.com |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
The scientists writing this book are not ‘against’ complementary or alternative medicine (CAM), but they are very much ‘for’ evidence-based medicine and single standards. They aim to counter-balance the many uncritical books on CAM and to stimulate intelligent, well-informed public debate.
Type | Book |
---|---|
Author | Edzard Ernst |
Author | Simon Singh |
Publisher | W.W. Norton & Co. |
Date | 2009-10-19 |
ISBN | 0393337782 |
Short Title | Trick or Treatment |
Library Catalog | Amazon.com |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Gil Gaudia |
Publication | Medscape General Medicine |
Volume | 9 |
Issue | 1 |
Pages | 56 |
Date | 2007 |
Journal Abbr | MedGenMed. |
Short Title | About Intercessory Prayer |
URL | http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov.ezproxy.bu.edu/articlerender.fcgi? artid=1924985 |
Accessed | Fri Oct 9 14:52:26 2009 |
Library Catalog | PubMed Central |
Extra | PMCID: PMC1924985 |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Wakoh Shannon Hickey |
Publication | CrossCurrents |
Volume | 60 |
Issue | 2 |
Pages | 168-184 |
Date | 06/2010 |
DOI | 10.1111/j.1939-3881.2010.00118.x |
ISSN | 00111953 |
URL | http://blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1939-3881.2010.00118.x |
Date Added | Thu Sep 29 09:03:48 2011 |
Modified | Thu Sep 29 09:03:48 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Katherine Hunt |
Author | Edzard Ernst |
Abstract | OBJECTIVES: The principles of evidence-based practice (EBP) are fundamental to medical ethics and seem essential for any form of health care. In 2000, a House of Lords Select Committee recommended that the ethos of EBP should extend to complementary and alternative medicine. The aim of this investigation was to determine whether EBP is incorporated in the codes of ethics of British complementary and alternative medicine organizations. METHODS: We obtained the codes of the following bodies: Association of Naturopathic Practitioners, Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine (UK), Ayurvedic Practitioners Association, British Acupuncture Council, Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council, European Herbal Practitioners Association, General Chiropractic Council, General Osteopathic Council, General Regulatory Council for Complementary Therapies, National Institute of Medical Herbalists, Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Society of Homeopaths, UK Healers, Unified Register of Herbal Practitioners. We then extracted the statements referring to EBP and compared this with what the respective codes of British doctors and nurses proscribed. RESULTS: Only the General Chiropractic Council, the General Osteopathic Council and the General Regulatory Council for Complementary Therapies oblige their members to adopt EBP. CONCLUSIONS: This discloses double standards in UK health care which may compromise patient safety. |
Publication | Journal of Health Services Research & Policy |
Volume | 14 |
Issue | 4 |
Pages | 219-223 |
Date | Oct 2009 |
Journal Abbr | J Health Serv Res Policy |
DOI | 10.1258/jhsrp.2009.009009 |
ISSN | 1355-8196 |
Short Title | Evidence-based practice in British complementary and alternative medicine |
URL | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezproxy.bu.edu/pubmed/19770119 |
Accessed | Tue Oct 27 08:40:19 2009 |
Library Catalog | NCBI PubMed |
Extra | PMID: 19770119 |
Date Added | Thu Sep 29 09:05:21 2011 |
Modified | Thu Sep 29 09:05:21 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Mamta Jeswani |
Author | Adrian Furnham |
Abstract | OBJECTIVE: To investigate to what extent paranormal beliefs, modern health worries (MHWs), and environmental concerns were related to beliefs about, and behaviour associated with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). METHODS: Of the participants, 150 completed a four-part questionnaire measuring use and perception of CAM, MHWs, paranormal beliefs, and environmental concerns. RESULTS: A factor analysis on the CAM questions revealed three clear components, labelled efficacy of CAM, attitudes to CAM, and safety of CAM. Age, total MHWs, paranormal beliefs, and environmental concerns were used as predictor variables in regression analyses with efficacy as criterion variable. Age was found to be a significantly related to efficacy of CAM. When total MHW score, paranormal belief score, and environmental concern score were added to the model, the r(2) increased by 29%. Environmental concern did not significantly relate to efficacy but spiritualism beliefs did. A factor analysis of the MHW scale items revealed nine factors. Out of these, radiation, doctors playing God, disasters, and epidemics, as well as harmful rays and air contaminants significantly predict belief in the efficacy of CAM. CONCLUSION: Overall, older people, with more MHWs, and who believe in the paranormal are more likely to believe that CAM works, possibly because of a more intuitive, 'holistic', thinking style. Limitations of the study are considered. |
Publication | British Journal of Health Psychology |
Volume | 15 |
Issue | Pt 3 |
Pages | 599-609 |
Date | Sep 2010 |
Journal Abbr | Br J Health Psychol |
DOI | 10.1348/135910709X477511 |
ISSN | 1359-107X |
Accessed | Wed Oct 6 20:45:55 2010 |
Library Catalog | NCBI PubMed |
Extra | PMID: 19878620 |
Date Added | Thu Sep 29 09:02:29 2011 |
Modified | Thu Sep 29 09:02:29 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Karsten Juhl Jørgensen |
Author | Asbjørn Hróbjartsson |
Author | Peter C Gøtzsche |
Abstract | We discuss in this commentary a recent Cochrane review of 10 randomised trials aimed at testing the religious belief that praying to a god can help those who are prayed for. The review concluded that the available studies merit additional research. However, the review presented a scientifically unsound mixture of theological and scientific arguments, and two of the included trials that had a large impact on the findings had problems that were not described in the review. The review fails to live up to the high standards required for Cochrane reviews. |
Publication | Journal of Negative Results in Biomedicine |
Volume | 8 |
Pages | 7 |
Date | 2009 |
Journal Abbr | J Negat Results Biomed |
DOI | 10.1186/1477-5751-8-7 |
ISSN | 1477-5751 |
Short Title | Divine intervention? |
Accessed | Tue Feb 22 18:55:37 2011 |
Library Catalog | NCBI PubMed |
Extra | PMID: 19515229 |
Date Added | Thu Sep 29 09:07:00 2011 |
Modified | Thu Sep 29 09:07:00 2011 |
Type | Book |
---|---|
Author | Dan King |
Publisher | D. Clapp |
Date | 1858 |
URL | http://www.archive.org/details/quackeryunmaske00kinggoog |
Accessed | Tue Nov 3 21:06:53 2009 |
Library Catalog | Internet Archive |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Raymond Lawrence |
Abstract | Abstract Recent proposals to join spirituality and medicine are facile and ill defined. The notion that physicians have the time or training to make assessments and recommendations about spirituality is misguided. Whenever a physician demonstrates personal caring for a patient, the healing process is likely enhanced, and in that sense, physicians often promote the spirituality of the patient. However, recent proposals to extend the physician’s task to that of assessing religion and directing the patient toward approved forms of spirituality are inappropriate. The languages of religion and science are radically different. The cultural body-mind split will not be solved by such simplistic solutions as having physicians endorse spirituality, which will result only in denigration of both medicine and religion. Physicians are encouraged to rely on clinically trained ministers for assistance in understanding the patient’s state of mind or spirit and its possible effects on the course of illness and health. |
Publication | Annals of Behavioral Medicine |
Volume | 24 |
Issue | 1 |
Pages | 74-76 |
Date | February 01, 2002 |
DOI | 10.1207/S15324796ABM2401_09 |
URL | http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15324796ABM2401_09 |
Accessed | Fri Oct 9 13:02:30 2009 |
Library Catalog | SpringerLink |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Recent proposals to join spirituality and medicine are facile and ill defined. The notion that physicians have the time or training to make assessments and recommendations about spirituality is misguided. Whenever a physician demonstrates personal caring for a patient, the healing process is likely enhanced, and in that sense, physicians often promote the spirituality of the patient. However, recent proposals to extend the physician’s task to that of assessing religion and directing the patient toward approved forms of spirituality are inappropriate. The languages of religion and science are radically different. The cultural body-mind split will not be solved by such simplistic solutions as having physicians endorse spirituality, which will result only in denigration of both medicine and religion. Physicians are encouraged to rely on clinically trained ministers for assistance in understanding the patient’s state of mind or spirit and its possible effects on the course of illness and health.
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | A.I. Leshner |
Publication | Science |
Volume | 302 |
Issue | 5650 |
Pages | 1479-1479 |
Date | NOV 28 2003 |
ISSN | 0036-8075 |
URL | http://apps.isiknowledge.com.ezproxy.bu.edu/full_record.do? product=WOS&search_mode=GeneralSearch&qid=1&… |
Accessed | Tue Oct 27 23:10:46 2009 |
Library Catalog | ISI Web of Knowledge |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Type | Book |
---|---|
Author | Scott O. Lilienfeld |
Author | Steven Jay Lynn |
Author | Jeffrey M. Lohr |
Publisher | The Guilford Press |
Date | 2004-07-26 |
ISBN | 1593850700 |
Library Catalog | Amazon.com |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Donald M Marcus |
Author | Laurence McCullough |
Abstract | Alternative therapies are popular, and information about them should be included in the curricula of health profession schools. During 2000 to 2003, the National Institutes of Health National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine awarded five-year education grants to 14 health professions schools in the United States and to the American Medical Students Association Foundation. The purpose of the grants was to integrate evidence-based information about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) into the curriculum. The authors reviewed the educational material concerning four popular CAM therapies-herbal remedies, chiropractic, acupuncture, and homeopathy-posted on the integrative medicine Web sites of the grant recipients and compared it with the best evidence available. The curricula on the integrative medicine sites were strongly biased in favor of CAM, many of the references were to poor-quality clinical trials, and they were five to six years out of date. These "evidence-based CAM" curricula, which are used all over the country, fail to meet the generally accepted standards of evidence-based medicine. By tolerating this situation, health professions schools are not meeting their educational and ethical obligations to learners, patients, or society. Because integrative medicine programs have failed to uphold educational standards, medical and nursing schools need to assume responsibility for their oversight. The authors suggest (1) appointing faculty committees to review the educational materials and therapies provided by integrative medicine programs, (2) holding integrative medicine programs' education about CAM to the same standard of evidence used for conventional treatments, and (3) providing ongoing oversight of integrative medicine education programs. |
Publication | Academic Medicine: Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges |
Volume | 84 |
Issue | 9 |
Pages | 1229-1234 |
Date | Sep 2009 |
Journal Abbr | Acad Med |
DOI | 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181b185f4 |
ISSN | 1938-808X |
URL | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezproxy.bu.edu/pubmed/19707062 |
Accessed | Mon Nov 9 00:52:43 2009 |
Library Catalog | NCBI PubMed |
Extra | PMID: 19707062 |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Alternative therapies are popular, and information about them should be included in the curricula of health profession schools. During 2000 to 2003, the National Institutes of Health National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine awarded five-year education grants to 14 health professions schools in the United States and to the American Medical Students Association Foundation. The purpose of the grants was to integrate evidence-based information about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) into the curriculum. The authors reviewed the educational material concerning four popular CAM therapies-herbal remedies, chiropractic, acupuncture, and homeopathy-posted on the integrative medicine Web sites of the grant recipients and compared it with the best evidence available. The curricula on the integrative medicine sites were strongly biased in favor of CAM, many of the references were to poor-quality clinical trials, and they were five to six years out of date. These “evidence-based CAM” curricula, which are used all over the country, fail to meet the generally accepted standards of evidence-based medicine. By tolerating this situation, health professions schools are not meeting their educational and ethical obligations to learners, patients, or society. Because integrative medicine programs have failed to uphold educational standards, medical and nursing schools need to assume responsibility for their oversight. The authors suggest (1) appointing faculty committees to review the educational materials and therapies provided by integrative medicine programs, (2) holding integrative medicine programs’ education about CAM to the same standard of evidence used for conventional treatments, and (3) providing ongoing oversight of integrative medicine education programs.
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Kevin S Masters |
Author | Glen I Spielmans |
Author | Jason T Goodson |
Abstract | BACKGROUND: The use of alternative treatments for illness is common in the United States. Practitioners of these interventions find them compatible with personal philosophies. Consequently, distant intercessory prayer (IP) for healing is one of the most commonly practiced alternative interventions and has recently become the topic of scientific scrutiny. PURPOSE: This study was designed to provide a current meta-analytic review of the effects of IP and to assess the impact of potential moderator variables. METHODS: A random effects model was adopted. Outcomes across dependent measures within each study were pooled to arrive at one omnibus effect size. These were combined to generate the overall effect size. A test of homogeneity and examination of several potential moderator variables was conducted. RESULTS: Fourteen studies were included in the meta-analysis yielding an overall effect size of g = .100 that did not differ from zero. When one controversial study was removed, the effect size reduced to g = .012. No moderator variables significantly influenced results. CONCLUSIONS: There is no scientifically discernable effect for IP as assessed in controlled studies. Given that the IP literature lacks a theoretical or theological base and has failed to produce significant findings in controlled trials, we recommend that further resources not be allocated to this line of research. |
Publication | Annals of Behavioral Medicine: A Publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine |
Volume | 32 |
Issue | 1 |
Pages | 21-26 |
Date | Aug 2006 |
Journal Abbr | Ann Behav Med |
DOI | 10.1207/s15324796abm3201_3 |
ISSN | 0883-6612 |
Short Title | Are there demonstrable effects of distant intercessory prayer? |
URL | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezproxy.bu.edu/pubmed/16827626 |
Accessed | Fri Oct 9 15:04:50 2009 |
Library Catalog | NCBI PubMed |
Extra | PMID: 16827626 |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Background: The use of alternative treatments for illness is common in the United States. Practitioners of these interventions find them compatible with personal philosophies. Consequently, distant intercessory prayer (IP) for healing is one of the most commonly practiced alternative interventions and has recently become the topic of scientific scrutiny. Purpose: This study was designed to provide a current meta-analytic review of the effects of IP and to assess the impact of potential moderator variables. Methods: A random effects model was adopted. Outcomes across dependent measures within each study were pooled to arrive at one omnibus effect size. These were combined to generate the overall effect size. A test of homogeneity and examination of several potential moderator variables was conducted. Results: Fourteen studies were included in the meta-analysis yielding an overall effect size of g = .100 that did not differ from zero. When one controversial study was removed, the effect size reduced to g = .012. No moderator variables significantly influenced results. Conclusions: There is no scientifically discernable effect for IP as assessed in controlled studies. Given that the IP literature lacks a theoretical or theological base and has failed to produce significant findings in controlled trials, we recommend that further resources not be allocated to this line of research.
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Richard L. Nahin |
Author | Stephen E. Straus |
Publication | BMJ: British Medical Journal |
Volume | 322 |
Issue | 7279 |
Pages | 161-164 |
Date | Jan. 20, 2001 |
ISSN | 09598138 |
Short Title | Research Into Complementary And Alternative Medicine |
URL | http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.bu.edu/stable/25466025 |
Accessed | Sun Nov 8 23:23:34 2009 |
Library Catalog | JSTOR |
Extra | ArticleType: primary_article / Full publication date: Jan. 20, 2001 / Copyright © 2001 BMJ Publishing Group |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Rob Poole |
Author | Robert Higgo |
Abstract | There is a determined campaign to make exploration of patients' spiritual experience an intrinsic and necessary part of routine psychiatric care. This has support from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, though there has been no consultation with psychiatrists. Whilst many of the proposals are uncontroversial, some involve serious breaches of normal professional boundaries of behaviour as set out in General Medical Council guidance. The contentious proposals are that a spiritual history should be taken from all patients, even where they resist; that it is sometimes acceptable to pray with patients; and that clinicians should support 'healthy' religious beliefs and challenge 'unhealthy' ones. The proposals are based on a model of universal spirituality which, we argue, is culture bound and lacks neutrality. This paper explores these issues and the consequences that might flow from altering professional boundaries in psychiatry. We conclude that the changes are unnecessary and should be resisted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
Publication | Mental Health, Religion & Culture |
Volume | 14 |
Issue | 1 |
Pages | 19-29 |
Date | January 2011 |
DOI | 10.1080/13674671003746845 |
ISSN | 13674676 |
Library Catalog | EBSCOhost |
Date Added | Thu Sep 29 08:57:52 2011 |
Modified | Thu Sep 29 08:57:52 2011 |
Type | Book |
---|---|
Author | James Randi |
Edition | Upd Sub |
Place | Buffalo |
Publisher | Prometheus Books |
Date | 1989-05 |
ISBN | 0879755350 |
Library Catalog | Amazon.com |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Celebrated magician James Randi uncovers the faith-healing fakery found in the disturbing performances of evangelist Peter Popoff, W.V. Grant, Leroy Jenkins, Oral Roberts, Pentecostal A.A. Allen, Roman Catholic Ralph DiOrio, and Pat Robertson.
Type | Book |
---|---|
Author | John Ruscio |
Edition | 1 |
Publisher | Wadsworth Publishing |
Date | 2001-07-13 |
ISBN | 053453659X |
Short Title | Clear Thinking with Psychology |
Library Catalog | Amazon.com |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Do your students have the tools to distinguish between the true science of human thought and behavior, and pop psychology? Ruscio’s new book provides a tangible and compelling framework for making that distinction. Because we are inundated with “scientific” claims, the author does not merely differentiate science and pseudoscience, but goes further to teach the fundamentals of scientific reasoning on which students can base their evaluation of information.
Type | Book |
---|---|
Author | Wallace Sampson |
Author | Lewis Vaughn |
Edition | 1st |
Publisher | Prometheus Books |
Date | 2000-06-15 |
ISBN | 1573928038 |
Short Title | Science Meets Alternative Medicine |
Library Catalog | Amazon.com |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Commercial radio and television, the Internet, and the vast majority of print media have spawned a promotion bonanza for herbal remedies and alternative therapies -- e.g., acupuncture, homeopathy, Ayurvedic medicine, aroma therapy, therapeutic touch, and many others. These therapies claim to do what scientific, evidence-based medicine sometimes cannot -- provide cures for a wide variety of diseases and physical ailments. How can the average consumer find objective, scientific information evaluating these products and treatments? Without reliable data from scientifically qualified sources, consumers run the risk of wasting their money, or worse, endangering their health. This authoritative collection of research articles by reputable scientists is dedicated exclusively to the careful scrutiny of the claims of alternative medicine. Using scientific and rational criteria, well-respected scientists and physicians review available evidence for therapeutic claims, critique published studies, and discuss the methods and principles of valid research. Among the topics covered are the origins of alternative medicine and current trends; the theories and therapies of Andrew Weil, naturopathy, therapeutic touch, and colloidal silver treatment; the psychological dimensions of belief in unvconventional treatments; and the ethics of promoting unproven treatments.
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Neil Scheurich |
Abstract | Increasing awareness of possible links between religion and health has led to greater attention to spirituality and medicine in medical education; both trends have culminated in vigorous debate about the place of spirituality and related values in medical care. The author argues that due to basic ambiguities of the term "spirituality" as well as prevailing biases of both patients and practitioners, this debate risks valorizing theistic religious views, a trend that would be to the detriment of physicians, residents, and students who happen to be non-believers or adherents of minority faiths. It is maintained that philosophical value theory, a broad inquiry into value and meaning that is carefully neutral as regards religious matters, provides the greatest possible protection of both secular and non-secular world views. A notion of "separation of church and medicine," similar in some ways to the well-known political model, is proposed. Because so many issues of meaning and value may be relevant to health, vigilance is required to properly delineate the purview of medicine. The author concludes by proposing that a medicine that neither exalts nor demeans religious belief but rather situates the latter among the countless values persons may hold should be the goal. |
Publication | Academic Medicine: Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges |
Volume | 78 |
Issue | 4 |
Pages | 356-360 |
Date | Apr 2003 |
Journal Abbr | Acad Med |
ISSN | 1040-2446 |
URL | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezproxy.bu.edu/pubmed/12691963 |
Accessed | Fri Oct 9 13:13:32 2009 |
Library Catalog | NCBI PubMed |
Extra | PMID: 12691963 |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Increasing awareness of possible links between religion and health has led to greater attention to spirituality and medicine in medical education; both trends have culminated in vigorous debate about the place of spirituality and related values in medical care. The author argues that due to basic ambiguities of the term “spirituality” as well as prevailing biases of both patients and practitioners, this debate risks valorizing theistic religious views, a trend that would be to the detriment of physicians, residents, and students who happen to be non-believers or adherents of minority faiths. It is maintained that philosophical value theory, a broad inquiry into value and meaning that is carefully neutral as regards religious matters, provides the greatest possible protection of both secular and non-secular world views. A notion of “separation of church and medicine,” similar in some ways to the well-known political model, is proposed. Because so many issues of meaning and value may be relevant to health, vigilance is required to properly delineate the purview of medicine. The author concludes by proposing that a medicine that neither exalts nor demeans religious belief but rather situates the latter among the countless values persons may hold should be the goal.
Type | Book |
---|---|
Author | Rose Shapiro |
Publisher | Random House |
Date | 2008-02-07 |
ISBN | 1846550289 |
Short Title | Suckers |
Library Catalog | Amazon.com |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Alternative medicine is an increasingly mainstream industry with a predicted worth of five trillion dollars by the year 2050. Its treatments range from reputable methods like homeopathy and acupuncture to such bizarre therapies as nutraceuticals, ear candling, and ergogenics. Alternative approaches are endorsed by celebrities, embraced by the middle class, and have become a lifestyle choice for many based on their spurious claims of rediscovery of ancient wisdom and the supposedly benign quality of nature. As this hard-hitting survey reveals, despite their growing popularity and expanding market share, there is no hard evidence that any of these so-called natural treatments actually work. It reveals how alternative medicine jeopardizes the health of those it claims to treat, leaches resources from treatments of proven efficacy, and is largely unaccountable and unregulated. Bracing and funny, this is a calling to account of a social and intellectual fraud that has produced a global delusion.
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Michael Shermer |
Abstract | Scientific experiments claiming that distant intercessory prayer produces salubrious effects are deeply flawed |
Publication | Scientific American |
Volume | 291 |
Issue | 5 |
Pages | 34 |
Date | Nov 2004 |
Journal Abbr | Sci. Am |
ISSN | 0036-8733 |
URL | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezproxy.bu.edu/pubmed/15521144 |
Accessed | Fri Oct 9 15:14:57 2009 |
Library Catalog | NCBI PubMed |
Extra | PMID: 15521144 |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Type | Book |
---|---|
Author | Joel James Shuman |
Author | Keith G. Meador |
Edition | 1 |
Publisher | Oxford University Press, USA |
Date | December 2002 |
ISBN | 019515469X |
Short Title | Heal Thyself |
Library Catalog | Amazon.com |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
In recent years, a movement stressing a causal relationship between spirituality and good health has captured the public imagination. Told that research demonstrates that people of strong faith are healthier, physicians and clergy alike urge us to become more religious. The religion and health movement, as it has become known, has attracted its fair share of skeptics. While most root their criticism in science or secularism, the authors of Heal Thyself, one a theological ethicist, the other a physician, instead challenge the basic precepts of the movement from the standpoint of Christian theology. Heal Thyself argues that popular culture’s fascination with the health benefits of religion reflects not the renaissance of religious tradition but the powerful combination of consumer capitalism and self-interested individualism. A faith-for-health exchange misrepresents and devalues the true meaning of faith. For Christians, being religious does not mean enlisting faith as a vehicle to get what we want--be it health or wealth--but rather learning by faith to want the right things at the right time, and to live with a spirit of gratitude and hope.
Type | Book |
---|---|
Author | Richard P. Sloan |
Publisher | St. Martin's Griffin |
Date | 2008-03-18 |
ISBN | 0312348827 |
Short Title | Blind Faith |
Library Catalog | Amazon.com |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Richard P Sloan |
Author | Emilia Bagiella |
Abstract | Claims about religion, spirituality, and health have recently appeared with increasing frequency, in both the popular media and professional journals. These claims have asserted that there are a great many studies in the literature that have examined relations between religious involvement and health outcomes and that the majority of them have shown that religious people are healthier. We examined the validity of these claims in two ways: (a) To determine the percentage of articles in the literature that were potentially relevant to such a claim, we identified all English-language articles with published abstracts identified by a Medline search using the search term religion in the year 2000, and (b) to examine the quality of the data in articles cited as providing supportfor such a claim, we examined all articles in the area of cardiovascular disease and hypertension cited by two comprehensive reviews of the literature. Of the 266 articles published in the year 2000 and identified by the Medline search, only 17% were relevant to claims of health benefits associated with religious involvement. About half of the articles cited in the comprehensive reviews were irrelevant to these claims. Of those that actually were relevant, many either had significant methodological flaws or were misrepresented, leaving only afew articles that could truly be described as demonstrating beneficial effects of religious involvement. We conclude that there is little empirical basis for assertions that religious involvement or activity is associated with beneficial health outcomes. |
Publication | Annals of Behavioral Medicine: A Publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine |
Volume | 24 |
Issue | 1 |
Pages | 14-21 |
Date | 2002 |
Journal Abbr | Ann Behav Med |
ISSN | 0883-6612 |
URL | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12008790 |
Accessed | Thu Nov 12 21:31:37 2009 |
Library Catalog | NCBI PubMed |
Extra | PMID: 12008790 |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Claims about religion, spirituality, and health have recently appeared with increasing frequency, in both the popular media and professional journals. These claims have asserted that there are a great many studies in the literature that have examined relations between religious involvement and health outcomes and that the majority of them have shown that religious people are healthier. We examined the validity of these claims in two ways: (a) To determine the percentage of articles in the literature that were potentially relevant to such a claim, we identified all English-language articles with published abstracts identified by a Medline search using the search term religion in the year 2000, and (b) to examine the quality of the data in articles cited as providing supportfor such a claim, we examined all articles in the area of cardiovascular disease and hypertension cited by two comprehensive reviews of the literature. Of the 266 articles published in the year 2000 and identified by the Medline search, only 17% were relevant to claims of health benefits associated with religious involvement. About half of the articles cited in the comprehensive reviews were irrelevant to these claims. Of those that actually were relevant, many either had significant methodological flaws or were misrepresented, leaving only afew articles that could truly be described as demonstrating beneficial effects of religious involvement. We conclude that there is little empirical basis for assertions that religious involvement or activity is associated with beneficial health outcomes.
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | R P Sloan |
Author | E Bagiella |
Abstract | In the general public and within medicine, interest in the possibility that religious and spiritual activity may confer health benefits is increasing, as the article by Anandarajah and Hight1 in this issue of American Family Physician clearly demonstrates. The empiric support required to convert this interest into recommendations for medical practice is weak and inconclusive at best, with most studies having numerous methodologic shortcomings.2 Even if there were methodologically solid findings demonstrating associations between religious and spiritual activities and health outcomes, problems would still exist. |
Publication | American Family Physician |
Volume | 63 |
Issue | 1 |
Pages | 33-34 |
Date | Jan 1, 2001 |
Journal Abbr | Am Fam Physician |
ISSN | 0002-838X |
Short Title | Spirituality and medical practice |
URL | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezproxy.bu.edu/pubmed/11195768 |
Accessed | Fri Oct 9 13:29:35 2009 |
Library Catalog | NCBI PubMed |
Extra | PMID: 11195768 |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
In the general public and within medicine, interest in the possibility that religious and spiritual activity may confer health benefits is increasing, as the article by Anandarajah and Hight1 in this issue of American Family Physician clearly demonstrates. The empiric support required to convert this interest into recommendations for medical practice is weak and inconclusive at best, with most studies having numerous methodologic shortcomings.2 Even if there were methodologically solid findings demonstrating associations between religious and spiritual activities and health outcomes, problems would still exist.
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Richard P. Sloan |
Author | Emilia Bagiella |
Abstract | Letter |
Publication | Archives of Internal Medicine |
Volume | 160 |
Issue | 12 |
Pages | 1870 |
Date | June 26, 2000 |
DOI | 10.1001/archinte.160.12.1870 |
URL | http://archinte.ama-assn.org |
Accessed | Fri Oct 9 13:26:05 2009 |
Library Catalog | HighWire |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Richard P. Sloan |
Author | Rajasekhar. Ramakrishnan |
Abstract | Among the many recent attempts to demonstrate the medical benefits of religious activity, the methodologically strongest seem to be studies of the effects of distant intercessory prayer (IP). In these studies, patients are randomly assigned to receive standard care or standard care plus the prayers or "healing intentions" of distant intercessors. Most of the scientific community has dismissed such research, but cavalier rejection of studies of IP is unwise, because IP studies appear to conform to the standards of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and, as such, would have a significant advantage over observational investigations of associations between religious variables and health outcomes. As we demonstrate, however, studies of IP fail to meet the standards of RCTs in several critical respects. They fail to adequately measure and control exposure to prayer from others, which is likely to exceed IP and to vary widely from subject to subject, and whose magnitude is unknown. This supplemental prayer so greatly attenuates the differences between the treatment and control groups that sample sizes are too large to justify studies of IP. Further, IP studies generally do not specify the outcome variables, raising problems of multiple comparisons and Type 1 errors. Finally, these studies claim findings incompatible with current views of the physical universe and consciousness. Unless these problems are solved, studies of IP should not be conducted. |
Publication | Perspectives in Biology and Medicine |
Volume | 49 |
Issue | 4 |
Pages | 504-514 |
Date | 2006 |
ISSN | 1529-8795 |
URL | http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.bu.edu/journals/perspectives_in_biology_and_medicine/v049/49.4sloan.html |
Accessed | Fri Oct 9 14:59:00 2009 |
Library Catalog | Project MUSE |
Extra | Volume 49, Number 4, Autumn 2006 |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Among the many recent attempts to demonstrate the medical benefits of religious activity, the methodologically strongest seem to be studies of the effects of distant intercessory prayer (IP). In these studies, patients are randomly assigned to receive standard care or standard care plus the prayers or “healing intentions” of distant intercessors. Most of the scientific community has dismissed such research, but cavalier rejection of studies of IP is unwise, because IP studies appear to conform to the standards of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and, as such, would have a significant advantage over observational investigations of associations between religious variables and health outcomes. As we demonstrate, however, studies of IP fail to meet the standards of RCTs in several critical respects. They fail to adequately measure and control exposure to prayer from others, which is likely to exceed IP and to vary widely from subject to subject, and whose magnitude is unknown. This supplemental prayer so greatly attenuates the differences between the treatment and control groups that sample sizes are too large to justify studies of IP. Further, IP studies generally do not specify the outcome variables, raising problems of multiple comparisons and Type 1 errors. Finally, these studies claim findings incompatible with current views of the physical universe and consciousness. Unless these problems are solved, studies of IP should not be conducted.
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | R.P. Sloan |
Author | E. Bagiella |
Author | T. Powell |
Abstract | Religion and science share a complex history as well as a complex present. At various times worldwide, medical and spiritual care was dispensed by the same person. At other times, passionate (even violent) conflicts characterised the association between religion and medicine and science. As interest in alternative and complementary medicine has grown, the notion of linking religious and medical interventions has become widely popular, especially in the USA. For many people, religious and spiritual activities provide comfort in the face of illness. However, as US medical schools increasingly offer courses in religion and spirituality1 and as reports continue to indicate interest in this subject among both physicians and the general public, it is essential to examine how, if at all, medicine should address these issues. Here, in a comprehensive, though not systematic, review of the empirical evidence and ethical issues we make an initial attempt at such an examination. |
Publication | The Lancet |
Volume | 353 |
Issue | 9153 |
Pages | 664-667 |
Date | February 1999 |
DOI | 10.1016/S0140-6736(98)07376-0 |
URL | http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.bu.edu/science? _ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T1B-476DJM0-Y&… |
Accessed | Fri Oct 9 13:31:39 2009 |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Religion and science share a complex history as well as a complex present. At various times worldwide, medical and spiritual care was dispensed by the same person. At other times, passionate (even violent) conflicts characterised the association between religion and medicine and science. As interest in alternative and complementary medicine has grown, the notion of linking religious and medical interventions has become widely popular, especially in the USA. For many people, religious and spiritual activities provide comfort in the face of illness. However, as US medical schools increasingly offer courses in religion and spirituality1 and as reports continue to indicate interest in this subject among both physicians and the general public, it is essential to examine how, if at all, medicine should address these issues. Here, in a comprehensive, though not systematic, review of the empirical evidence and ethical issues we make an initial attempt at such an examination.
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | R P Sloan |
Author | E Bagiella |
Author | L VandeCreek |
Author | M Hover |
Author | C Casalone |
Author | T Jinpu Hirsch |
Author | Y Hasan |
Author | R Kreger |
Author | P Poulos |
Publication | The New England Journal of Medicine |
Volume | 342 |
Issue | 25 |
Pages | 1913-1916 |
Date | Jun 22, 2000 |
Journal Abbr | N. Engl. J. Med |
ISSN | 0028-4793 |
URL | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10861331 |
Accessed | Thu Nov 12 20:40:23 2009 |
Library Catalog | NCBI PubMed |
Extra | PMID: 10861331 |
Date Added | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Modified | Sat Oct 1 15:01:40 2011 |
Type | Journal Article |
---|---|
Author | Harald Walach |
Abstract | Since quite some time, at least in the United Kingdom, a campaign against complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments and training courses has been happening. Given some prominence in the media, this campaign seems to aim at having CAM courses scrutinized, CAM treatments taken off reimbursement schemes, and brandishing doctors and academics dealing with CAM as quacks. The buzzword used is "evidence-based," with the presupposition that, while conventional medicine is "evidence-based," CAM is not. It is worthwhile to examine the notion of "evidence" used in this discussion. I argue that it is a rather unwholesome type of evidence that is referred to here, namely only the difference between an active treatment and a sham treatment. For several reasons this is too restricted and not sound, as it creates several paradoxes, for instance the efficacy paradox. This consists in what is now empirically documented, whereas a CAM placebo can be actually more effective than a conventional, supposedly evidence-based, treatment. This shows that the discussion is really about something completely different: CAM has become a real player in the health services field, threatening revenues of the pharmaceutical industry. Taken together with a series of events this suggests that this campaign is carefully staged. It requires that we take the question of what "evidence" means to the heart of the methodological discussion, also for the sake of a broader, more wholesome notion of what counts as evidence. It also requires that we keep producing good data with a broad enough outlook comparing CAM treatments with conventional ones, and not just with placebo. |
Publication | Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (New York, N.Y.) |
Volume | 15 |
Issue | 10 |
Pages | 1139-1142 |
Date | Oct 2009 |
Journal Abbr | J Altern Complement Med |
DOI | 10.1089/acm.2009.0423 |
ISSN | 1557-7708 |
URL | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezproxy.bu.edu/pubmed/19848550 |
Accessed | Tue Oct 27 07:49:22 2009 |
Library Catalog | NCBI PubMed |
Extra | PMID: 19848550 |
Date Added | Thu Sep 29 09:05:21 2011 |
Modified | Thu Sep 29 09:05:21 2011 |