Spirituality And Links To Health

Question 1

Beliefs

Answer 1

1. The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another: My belief in X is as strong as ever…
2. Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something, despite sometimes the facts of the matter being contradictory.
3. Something believed or accepted as true, especially a particular belief/tenet or a body of beliefs accepted by a group of persons.

Question 2

Behaviors

Answer 2

Behavior is a response of an individual or group to an action, environment, person or stimulus. It is the reaction to an event, occurrence, or situation, aimed at its containment or attempted control.

Question 3

Self-knowledge

Answer 3

Self Knowledge is about:
• Gathering information, facts, data on one’s self to increase.
• Self awareness- i.e consciousness.
• Understanding of self.
• In this context self understanding or comprehension relates to the intellectual capacity to grasp and make use of objective knowledge for one’s own benefit and that of others whom one treats.

Question 4

Spirituality

Answer 4

-Spirituality is more frequently described than defined.
-Spirituality consists of two dimensions, one transcendent of the physical world and the other consisting of connectedness to the physical world
• Religion-organizes the spiritual experiences of a group of people into a system of beliefs and practices
• Many people find spirituality through religion

Question 5

Apart from religion ,some people find spirituality by communing with nature, or a set of values and principles.

Answer 5

• Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or immaterial reality, an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of their being, or the deepest values and meanings by which people live.
• Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop an individual’s understanding of his or her inner life.
• Spirituality is defined as the way one finds meaning, hope, comfort and inner peace in ones life;
• Spirituality is a personal fact in the lives of many people(dealing with issues of spirit ,soul ,body)

Question 6

Spirituality as a coping mechanism

Answer 6

• It is also a fact that many people use their spirituality to cope with health issues.
• Therefore person’s spiritual practice can affect their clinical outcomes.
• Religion refers to a belief system to which an individual adheres. It involves particular rituals and practices—the externals of our belief system
• Religion can be organized and practiced within a community that follows certain traditions and holds certain beliefs.

Question 7

Religion and Spirituality

Answer 7

• sometimes used interchangeably, they are in fact very different.
• Religion = as a set of beliefs, rituals and practices, usually embodied within an institution or an organization.
• Spirituality = a search for what is sacred in life, one’s deepest values, along with a relationship with God, or a higher power, that transcends the self.

Question 8

SEPARATION OF MEDICINE FROM RELIGION

Answer 8

• As science began to discover the etiology of diseases, former religious explanations of illness and disease no longer held.
• Science and medicine began to distance themselves from religion & God.

Question 9

Biopsychosocial model of care introduced to address mind body split of medicine.

Answer 9

• Proposed by Engel and White (1976)
• Biopsychosocial model extended by Daniel Sulmasy (2002) to encompass the spiritual dimension
• Humans are intrinsically spiritual since all persons are in relationship with themselves, others, nature, and THE SIGNIFICANT OR SACRED –HIGHER POWER THAN MANKIND-dealing with life death and dying process issues.

Question 10

BIO-PSYCHO-SOCIAL-SPIRITUAL

Answer 10

• Current view of health care = Humans are BIOPSYCHOSOCIALSPIRITUAL entities
• Illness and healing are biopsychosocial spiritual phenomena.
• This takes into consideration:
  > Scientific view of pathophysiology
  > Respect for the psychological
  > Perception of the social environment
  > Attention to the spiritual distress and the spiritual resources of the patient

Question 11

Bio-psycho-social-spiritual model care

Answer 11

• Disease is said to be disturbance in the right relationships that constitute the unity and integrity of a human being.
• When one encounters a life-threatening illness, it involves a person in his or her totality.
• This totality includes the biologic, psychological, social and spiritual aspects relating to human beings in sickness and health-as well as health promotion and health maintenance.

Question 12

Health carers spiritual assessment

Answer 12

• A spiritual assessment is not only about what a person believes; it is mostly about how their faith or belief functions as a coping mechanism.
• Religion can be one of the ways the patient expresses his or her spirituality.
• Doctors are to Respect the privacy of patients with regard to their spirituality and should not impose their own beliefs.
• Make requests to professional chaplains /Imams/priests and other spiritual leaders as appropriate to help patient’s coping.
• Professionals own spirituality can positively affect the clinician patient relationship.

Question 13

HOW TO TAKE THE SPIRITUAL HISTORY

Answer 13

• Physician attitude and approach
• Sensitivity, integrity, respectfulness, gentleness
• Sitting and listening has value
• Use patient-centered reflection rather than providing answers to spiritual questions
• Do not impose spiritual or religious views on patients

Question 14

MATTHEW’S SPIRITUAL HISTORY

Answer 14

Brief ,easy to remember (I,I,I, = importance , influence , interaction)

• Dale Matthews suggested that the doctor ask patients three fundamental questions as part of their initial (in-take) evaluation
  1. Is religion or spirituality important to you ? •
  2. Does your religious or spiritual beliefs influence the way you look at your medical problems and the way you think about your health
  3. Would you like your religious or spiritual beliefs and practices to be addressed as part of your care
• • eg. St Augutine Hospital in Durban –as would you like your religious “leader” to visit in hospital

• Final question is a bit personal ,suggesting a more active physician role
• What can I do to support your faith or religious commitment?

Question 15

BENEFITS OF SPIRITUALITY:

Answer 15

• Healthy grieving of losses (letting go)
• Improved self-esteem and confidence
• Maximization of personal potential
• Improved relationships (with self, others and God)
• Renewed sense of meaning and purpose
• Enhanced feeling of belonging
• Improved capacity for solving problems
• Insoluble problems, continuing distress and disability are more easily endured
• Hope renewed

Question 16

RISKS OF SPIRITUALITY

Answer 16

• Folly of fatalism :believe that all things has been pre determined ,thus no need of personal input, give up personal sense of agency to help self and others/patients.
• Refusal of medical treatment, vaccination : eg Jehovah witness and blood products refusal.
• Engaging in dangerous practices :Pentecostal holiness churches in Appalachia that handle dangerous snakes and drink poison during worships –refer to South African mushrooming of fake/ fraudulent, spiritualist preying/not praying on people.
• Interference with patients civil liberties.

Question 17

Coping strategies and behaviors in people with a positive sense of spirituality.

Answer 17

• Spirituality assists person to relate to crises and loses as learning challenges;
• live with an awareness of being on a journey which would end in this world;
• exercise patience, strength, common sense intelligence, curiosity, search for truth and humbleness in being knowledgeable
• just or fair in their dealings with others.
• live with a sense of compassion for their self and compassion for others.
• Eagerness and compassion to share learning just as they are eager to learn from others even the most down trodden, impoverished people
• focus is on improving the inner self and character while living with diverse others in truth and peace-rather than creating confusion, conflict and chaos
• Irrespective of the professions or occupations, their wealth or lack of wealth, their health or lack of health, spiritual peoples currency to engage in the world is on reflection and attaining self-knowledge, maintaining good relationships with their self-mind, body, inner being and others

Question 18

Spirituality and On being a Professional

Answer 18

-Positive people seek a balance in their lives as personal growth and sustained lifestyle experience. Patients learn from such professionals by interactions and observation.

Patients feel loved and cared for by them and often present with changes to improve self and extinguish negative health behaviors or heading towards toward their death they and family express satisfaction with the relationship and treatment

Question 19

Spiritual dimensions of mental and physical health

Answer 19

Religion and Spirituality makes an important contribution to quality of life for many people all over the world.

Question 20

WHY DO WE NEED TO BE CULTURALLY AND SPIRITUALLY SENSITIVE?

Answer 20

• (JCAHO) holds hospitals accountable for addressing and maintaining patient rights.
• These rights include “respecting and acknowledging one’s psychosocial, spiritual and cultural values and how they impact a patient’s response to their care.”
• Health care professionals are entrusted to care for patients as whole persons – body, mind and spirit.
• The health care approach is interdisciplinary and encompassing. It is important, then, for that approach to be culturally and spiritually sensitive.
• In addition, health care professionals need to be empowered with the capacity, skills, and knowledge to respond to the unique needs of each patient and their loved ones.

Question 21

SELF REGULATION AND GOD WORSHIP

Answer 21

• Religiousness and spirituality can also improve overall health by encouraging healthy behaviours and practices (such as healthy dietary practices, sexual regulation and limitations on addictive substances) that can often improve physical health, and through that improve overall well-being, including mental health (Koenig, McCullough & Larson, 2001).
• One of the most important ways spirituality contributes to human value is that it tends to define the human being in a way that is beyond merely the ability to function:
• Spirituality can make a significant contribution to mental and physical health promotion, and mental health positively influences our spiritual life.

Question 22

RESEARCH EVIDENCE

Answer 22

• In a longitudinal study it was found religious commitment or behavior correlates positively with a large variety of beneficial health outcomes,
  including:
• longevity,
• lower cancer rate,
• overall health, life satisfaction
• lower blood pressure,
• decreased physical and psychological symptoms,
• lower rates of substance abuse, and
• increased survival after cardiac surgery

Question 23

The Relationship Between

Spirituality and Religion

Answer 23

• Spirituality can exist independently of religious
practice or affiliation, but in most people their
• spirituality is nested in a religious context.
• In an article summarizing the relevance of religion
to public health research and practice, Chatters
(2000) states:
• Religious doctrines may support positive views of
human nature and the self that engenders attitudes
and emotional states that are associated with
better physical and mental health outcomes.

Question 24

Value of Religion and Spirituality

in Health

Answer 24

Belief in the intrinsic value and uniqueness of
each individual may promote feelings of self-esteem.
Religion and Spirituality can provide hope to
people in despair, and in that sense even
prevent suicide which is often the result of a
a decision that life is not worth living.

• Especially in the midst of crisis, particular
kinds of religion and spirituality can prove to
be a powerful resource that can be a real
buffer against excessive mental distress and
despair