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PubMed2005

Epistemological frameworks, homosexuality, and religion: how people of faith understand the intersection between homosexuality and religion.

Some gay men, lesbians, and other progressives view orthodox religious believers as perpetrators of oppression. Conversely, many orthodox believers, or as they might self-identity, people of faith, believe that gay men, lesbians, and other progressives wish to marginalize people of faith. Using Hunter's epistemologically based distinction between progressive and orthodox worldviews to understand the differences in perceptions, this article explores how numerous people of faith understand reality as it intersects the issue of homosexuality, both in the wider culture and in social work. The author suggests that to provide effective services to an increasingly diverse society and to remain grounded in the Code of Ethics, social work must work toward a more inclusive profession that accepts both progressives and people of faith.

Christianity↗
PubMed2005

Religion and spirituality: a discussion paper about negativity, reductionism and differentiation in nursing texts.

BACKGROUND: The last 30 years have seen a proliferation of literature about spirituality in the nursing press. A dominant theme has been the need to differentiate spirituality from religion and this has provoked a number of authors to attempt to define and describe religion. As nursing advocates respect for the person's religious beliefs the way in which it is portrayed is very relevant. AIMS: This work explores how religion is defined and discussed in the nursing literature about spirituality to consider whether the way religion is portrayed could be said to demonstrate 'respect' for religious beliefs. METHODS: Texts about religion were examined in relation to theories of religion from anthropology, sociology and religious studies. These disciplines have produced substantive or irreducible accounts in contrast to functional and reductive theories about religion. RESULTS: The result of this analysis is that there appears to be a tendency to talk about religion without using sources which itself suggests a lack of respect as well as an inclination to view it only in reductive and functional terms. This is proved by the similarity of ideas in the nursing literature to the functionalist and reductionist theories of Frazer, Tylor, Marx, Durkheim and Freud. This approach is criticised with reference to the work of Otto, Bellah, Berger and Pals who suggest that religion should be seen as irreducibly to do with the sacred. It is proposed that this is a more appropriate outlook to take for an occupation which professes to respect the religious beliefs of all individuals. However, viewing religion in this more meaningful way, acknowledging their spirituality has implications for attempts to differentiate religion and spirituality. CONCLUSION: Reductive accounts of religion imply, probably inadvertently but nevertheless negative, attitudes towards religious belief. A more serious and deeper exploration of the meaning of religion from the standpoint of irreducibility might be more respectful and tolerant of religious belief. This is particularly salient in a society where religious practice is increasing both in the indigenous population and as a result of immigration.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2004

Religion, social support, fat intake and physical activity.

OBJECTIVE: Most research on diet and exercise has focused on these health behaviours as proximate causes of disease, rather than examine the context of how diet and exercise are developed and maintained. This study examined religion and social support in relationship to fat intake and physical activity. DESIGN, SETTING AND SUBJECTS: Data from surveys of 546 adults aged 17-91 years, residing in one upstate New York county, were analysed. RESULTS: Most relationships between the multiple facets of religion, fat intake and physical activity were not statistically significant. After controlling for demographics and social support, Conservative Protestant women and women specifying an "Other" religious affiliation reported higher fat intakes than did Catholic women. There were no relationships between religion and fat intake in men. In women, religious commitment was associated with greater moderate and vigorous physical activity, whereas in men, divine social support was associated with greater moderate physical activity. Social support did not substantially change the magnitude of the relationships between religion, diet and physical activity. CONCLUSION: Overall, there were few relationships between religion, fat intake and physical activity, suggesting that in contemporary US society religion may play a small role in the context of how diet and exercise are developed and maintained. The limited range of religiosity in the sample, however, may have underestimated the role of religion. Significant relationships between religion and physical activity in women suggest that further research is needed to more clearly delineate religion's relationship with health behaviours.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Religion and spirituality in coping with breast cancer: perspectives of Chilean women.

This study examined the roles of religion and spirituality in relation to coping with breast cancer in Chilean women. Specifically, the purpose of the study was to examine how these patients used religion and spirituality to cope with their illness; how their illness changed the roles of religion and spirituality in their lives; and their views regarding whether, and if so how, spiritual faith can help patients recuperate from breast cancer. Twenty-seven women with breast cancer who were patients at a clinic in Santiago, Chile were recruited to participate in one-on-one interviews. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using the "constant comparative method" to seek patterns and organize the content into specific themes. Women viewed religion and spirituality as primary resources for themselves and others to use in coping with breast cancer. Women's use of religion and spirituality was manifested in praying, in their perceived dependence on God to intercede and guide them through their illness, and in obtaining social support from other persons in their faith community. Half (13/26) of the women reported that their cancer prompted an increased emphasis on religion and spirituality in their lives by deepening their faith in God. Almost all (26/27) participants endorsed the belief that spiritual faith can help cancer patients to recuperate. These findings suggest that health care providers working should be aware of the culturally dependent roles that religion and spirituality play in women's coping with breast cancer.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2006

Religion, body satisfaction and dieting.

Western societal pressures of thinness have assigned worth to the ideal body, contributing to body dissatisfaction and increased dieting. A social factor that may serve as an alternative avenue of worth than the body is religion. Survey data from a community sample (n=546) was collected to examine religion's relationships with body satisfaction and dieting. Religion was significantly related to greater body satisfaction and less dieting, and specifically negative aspects of religion were related to lower body satisfaction and greater dieting. Those utilizing more negative religious coping had lower body satisfaction (women: r=-0.47; men: r=-0.58). Self-esteem was a mediator in these relationships. In women, those reporting higher negative congregational social support were more likely to diet than those reporting lower levels (CI: 2.0; 1.2, 3.5). Overall, religion was related to body satisfaction and dieting, with specifically negative aspects of religion having more consistent and stronger relationships than other components of religion.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

How are religion and spirituality related to health? A study of physicians' perspectives.

BACKGROUND: Despite expansive medical literature regarding spirituality and medicine, little is known about physician beliefs regarding the influence of religion on health. METHODS: Semistructured interviews with 21 physicians regarding the intersection of religion, spirituality, and medicine. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for emergent themes through an iterative process of qualitative textual analysis. RESULTS: All participants believed religion influences health, but they did not emphasize the influence of religion on outcomes. Instead, they focused on ways that religion provides a paradigm for understanding and making decisions related to illness and a community in which illness is experienced. Religion was described as beneficial when it enables patients to cope with illness but harmful when it leads to psychological conflict or conflict with medical recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Empirical evidence for a "faith-health connection" may have little influence on physicians' conceptions of and approaches to religion in the patient encounter.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Religion, ethnicity and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is seen in many contrasting cultures but it is not known if the form of the disorder varies between these cultures. There have been anecdotal case reports where religion appeared to play a significant aetiological role in the disorder but the relationship between religion and OCD has not previously been systematically studied. This study was a retrospective, casenote study comparing the country of birth and religious affiliation of three groups of 50 patients. Its aim was to investigate the aetiological role played by religion in the development of OCD. The groups were patients with OCD from a specialist behavioural-cognitive unit, patients assessed in a specialist psycho-dynamic psychotherapy department and patients attending a general adult psychiatry outpatient department. More patients with OCD affiliated themselves with a religion as opposed to either of the other two groups. This difference disappeared when the type of religion was taken into account so that no conclusive relationship between OCD and religion could be identified. The findings do not diminish the importance of religion in the development of OCD in some individuals and suggest that future research in this area should include examination of the rigidity of upbringing and personal perception of the experience of strict rules or imposed religious practices.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2007

Pediatrician characteristics associated with attention to spirituality and religion in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE: The literature suggests that a majority of pediatricians believe that spirituality and religion are relevant in clinical practice, but only a minority gives them attention. This project explored this disparity by relating personal/professional characteristics of pediatricians to the frequency with which they give attention to spirituality and religion. METHODS: Pediatricians (N = 737) associated with 3 academic Midwestern pediatric hospitals responded to a survey that requested information concerning the frequency with which they (1) talked with patients/families about their spiritual and religious concerns and (2) participated with them in spiritual or religious practices (eg, prayer). The associations between these data and 10 personal and professional characteristics were examined. RESULTS: The results demonstrated the disparity, and the analysis identified 9 pediatrician characteristics that were significantly associated with more frequently talking with patients/families about their spiritual and religious concerns. The characteristics included increased age; a Christian religious heritage; self-description as religious; self-description as spiritual; the importance of one's own spirituality and religion in clinical practice; the belief that the spirituality and religion of patients/families are relevant in clinical practice; formal instruction concerning the role of spirituality and religion in health care; relative comfort asking about beliefs; and relative comfort asking about practices. All of these characteristics except pediatrician age were also significantly associated with the increased frequency of participation in spiritual and religious practices with patients/families. CONCLUSIONS: Attention to spiritual and religious concerns and practices are associated with a web of personal and professional pediatrician characteristics. Some characteristics pertain to the physician's personal investment in spirituality and religion in their own lives, and others include being uncomfortable with spiritual and religious concerns and practices. These associations shed light on the disparity between acknowledged spirituality and religion relevancy and inattention to it in clinical practice.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Religion, spirituality, and chaplains in the biomedical literature: 1965-2000.

In recent years, several prominent medical journals have published articles addressing the relationship between religion/spirituality and medicine, and recognizing the importance of religion in the lives of most Americans, especially in times of illness. We hypothesized that the publication of these articles reflected a trend in the biomedical literature in which greater attention is being given to the role of religion and spirituality in health-care. A correlational design was used, based on an electronic survey of all articles in MEDLINE for the years 1965 through 2000. The search terms used were: 1) religion or religious; 2) spiritual; and 3) chaplain. The number of articles per 100,000 that mentioned religion (religion or religious), spirituality, or chaplains each year was determined. Statistically significant upward trends across years were found for the rates of articles addressing religion (r = .59, p < .001) and spirituality (r = .89, p < .001) and a non-significant trend was found for chaplains (r = .31). The rising rates of articles on religion and spirituality in biomedical journals suggest a growing recognition of the need to address spiritual and religious issues in health-care.

Clergy↗
PubMed2004

The relationship between schizophrenia and religion and its implications for care.

This paper focuses on the relationships between schizophrenia and religion, on the basis of a review of literature and the data of an ongoing study about religiousness and spiritual coping conducted among outpatients with chronic schizophrenia. Religion (including both spirituality and religiousness) is salient in the lives of many people suffering from schizophrenia. However, psychiatric research rarely addresses religious issues. Religious beliefs and religious delusions lie on a continuum and vary across cultures. In Switzerland for example, the belief in demons as the cause of mental health problems is a common phenomenon in Christians with high saliency of religiousness. Religion has an impact, not always positive, on the comorbidity of substance abuse and suicidal attempts in schizophrenia. In many patients' life stories, religion plays a central role in the processes of reconstructing a sense of self and recovery. However religion may become part of the problem as well as part of the recovery. Some patients are helped by their faith community, uplifted by spiritual activities, comforted and strengthened by their beliefs. Other patients are rejected by their faith community, burdened by spiritual activities, disappointed and demoralized by their beliefs. Religion is relevant for the treatment of people with schizophrenia in that it may help to reduce pathology, to enhance coping and to foster recovery. In the treatment of these patients, it appears useful to tolerate diversity, to respect others beliefs, to ban proselytism and to have a good knowledge of one's own spiritual identity.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2005

Religion, spirituality and cancer: current status and methodological challenges.

The role of religion and spirituality in health has received increasing attention in the scientific and lay literature. While the scientific attention to this issue has expanded, there continue to be methodological and measurement concerns that often prevent firm conclusions about health and adjustment benefits. Limited attention has been provided to the role of spirituality and religion in cancer. This is true when both disease outcome and adjustment are considered. A recent 'levels of evidence' review examining the link between physical health and religion or spirituality found little overall support for the hypotheses that religion or spirituality impact cancer progression or mortality. Studies examining their impact on quality of life and adjustment are decidedly mixed. In sum, research specifically focusing on the role of religion or spirituality on cancer outcomes has been surprisingly sparse. Such research presents a number of methodological and measurement challenges. Due to these unmet challenges in the literature to date, it is premature to determine what role religion and spirituality play in disease, adjustment, or quality of life outcomes in cancer. A number of suggestions are made for continued research in this area.

Biomedical Research↗
PubMed2000

Do psychogeriatricians 'neglect' religion? An antipodean survey.

BACKGROUND: Religion has been found to be important in the lives of many elderly people, but it has been claimed that psychiatrists 'neglect' the religious issues of their patients. This study examines the question: Do psychogeriatricians 'neglect' religion in the assessment and treatment of their patients? METHOD: A sample of 207 psychiatrists with an interest in psychogeriatrics was surveyed using a 14-item questionnaire. Items addressed attitudes and behaviors of psychiatrists towards religion in relation to their clinical practice. RESULTS: Of the 143 (69%) who responded, 43% have no religious affiliation and only 25% participate at least monthly in organized religion. Nevertheless, 85% think that there are links between religion and mental health, and only one respondent stated that psychiatrists should never concern themselves with the religious issues of their patients. A total of 34%, however, had never referred a patient to a pastoral counselor. Training in religious issues is lacking. CONCLUSIONS: Psychogeriatricians think that religion is relevant in the assessment and treatment of elderly patients. In view of the lack of training in religious issues, revisions to the psychiatric training curriculum would be appropriate. This would promote dialogue between psychiatrists and religious caregivers.

Adult↗