BACKGROUND Holistic practice involves caring for the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of patients. Spiritual assessment is an important part of the patient's overall assessment. Religion is a component of spirituality and is supported by a recognisable formal system of beliefs. Religious beliefs might help patients in their search for meaning in life, especially in difficult ...

Using ethnographic techniques, I studied the religious and spiritual aspects of health care at the N.R.I. Academy of the Sciences in Chinakakani, Andhra Pradesh, India, to gain perspectives on how culture influences people’s beliefs about health. It became apparent that “cultural customs” accounted for people’s similar beliefs concerning recovery from disease and injury, irrespective of their d...

BACKGROUND AND AIM Spiritual life can be defined as the search for personal contact with the transcendent. Careful assessment of spiritual life can help to value its importance to cancer patients from the moment of their diagnosis. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study. Two hundred fifty-seven patients undergoing cancer treatment filled in the validated Italian version of the Systems of Bel...

Recent research supports the positive contribution that religious faith and spirituality (R/S) makes in helping people deal with significant life-altering events. Difficult life events and experiences such as bereavement can be lifealtering, difficult to manage and can seriously challenge one's sense of meaning and purpose in life. Research supports that a majority of Americans have some type o...

background: confrontation with the consequences of diabetes causes a crisis in physical, mental, and spiritual dimensions. sometimes the spiritual crisis can be tremendous. since spiritual health coordinates different aspects of human life, this study aimed to identify the spiritual health of patients with defects caused by diabetes. materials and methods: this was a qualitative-phenomenologica...

AIM The number of haemodialysis patients globally is increasing and spiritual resources may help overcome adjustment problems among such patients. This study examined the relationships between spiritual/religious, demographic and clinical variables and quality of life among Iranian Muslims undergoing haemodialysis. METHODS Using a cross-sectional design, 362 haemodialysis patients were survey...

This study aimed to evaluate health related quality of life (HRQL) and spiritual well-being (SWB) of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to investigate the relationship between HRQOL and SWB. Seventy outpatients with COPD were interviewed using Portuguese versions of the Seattle Obstructive Lung Disease Questionnaire (SOLDQ) and Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS). SOLD...

One possible approach to prevention of suicide attempts is to encourage help-seeking among individuals at risk. We assessed whether different forms of treatment were associated with lower odds of a suicide attempt in a diverse group of 388 lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults aged 18-59, sampled from New York City venues. Of individuals who attempted suicide, 23% sought mental health or medi...

OBJECTIVE Mental health professionals are increasingly aware of the need to incorporate a patient's religious and spiritual beliefs into mental health assessments and treatment plans. Recent changes in assessment and treatment guidelines in the US have resulted in corresponding curricular changes, with at least 16 US psychiatric residency programs now offering formal training in religious and s...