Spirituality and Healing

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Spirituality and Healing

• John Mulder, MD
• Vice President of Medical Services, Faith Hospice
• Medical Director of Palliative Care Services
• MetroHealth
• Director, Grand Rapids Palliative Medicine
  Fellowship Program

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Objectives

• Define our spiritual nature
• Understand the scientific basis for the role
  of spirituality in health and disease
• Understand the interrelationship between the
  spiritual, physical, and emotional aspects of our
  being
• Equip participants with techniques for
  dealing with spiritual issues with patients

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Few men make themselves masters of the things
they write or speak. -- John Selden, 1564-1654
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We are inclined to believe those whom we do not
know because they have never deceived us. -- Dr.
Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784
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What is Spirituality?
Spirituality is one of those words which is sort
of like an old Barnum and Bailey circus tent it
covers so many various kinds of animals, events,
acts and episodes that its hard to pin down. --
Joseph Sittler, theologian/writer
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What is Spirituality?

• -- The non-physical part of our being --
• The part that motivates us to look for
  meaning
• Connects our experiences with sources of
  meaning
• Provides capacity to see beyond and rise
  above momentary experiences to find meaning and
  purpose in life

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What is Spirituality?

• A vehicle for faith that provides a basis
  for prayer, meditation and worship
• Gives us a reason to love, forgive and seek
  reconciliation
• Values such as love, meaning, beauty, hope
  and truth guide our search for meaning in life
  and in its lifes experiences
• Brings clarity to personal concepts such as
  personhood, life, death, grieving, compassion,
  and lifes purposes

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What is Spirituality?

• PHYSICAL BODY -- senses of sight, sound,
  hearing, taste, capacity for motion, experiencing
  pain and pleasure
• MIND -- capacity for having thoughts,
  holding beliefs, experiencing emotions
• SPIRIT or SOUL -- site of supreme values
  and ultimate realities perception and
  understanding of God, love, meaning, hope,
  beauty, and truth

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What is Spirituality?

• TWO DIMENSIONS
• VERTICAL -- Our personal relationship with
  God, ultimate source of being model for
  understanding lifes experiences basis for
  coping with illnesses, pain, suffering, etc.
• HORIZONTAL -- Our personal relationship
  with others basis for personal lifestyle or life
  story
• The Human Moment

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What is Spiritual Healing?

• Spiritual healing is not a matter of God
  breaking the physical laws of nature.
• Spiritual laws co-exist with physical laws
  interacting constantly.
• Following spiritual laws directly affects
  the body and can influence disease and health
• Spiritual healing is a discipline to be
  practiced - a life style, not an event to be
  prayed for

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There is no cure for birth and death save to
enjoy the interval. -- George Santayana,
1863-1952
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What is Health?

• Fitness and lifestyle
• Proper diet
• Proper exercise
• Proper sleep

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What is Health?

• Fitness and lifestyle
• Fulfilling our calling

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An unfulfilled vocation drains the color from a
mans entire existence. -- Honore de Balzac
1799-1850
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Unhappiness is best defined as the difference
between our talents and our expectations. --
Edward de Bono, 1933-
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What is Health?

• Fitness and lifestyle
• Fulfilling our calling
• Forgiveness Giving and receiving

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Science without religion is lame religion
without science is blind. -- Albert Einstein,
1897-1955
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Healthcare professionals have both an
opportunity and an obligation
to impact their patients spiritual as
well as physical health.
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Physician reluctance to endorse healthy
spirituality

• Most physicians not aware of data
• Many doctors specifically instructed to keep
  religion out of medical practices - dont mix
  science and faith
• The possibility of opening Pandoras Box
  unsettling for many physicians untrained to
  address spiritual beliefs, practices, and
  experiences

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Why Faith Heals . . .

• Social Support -- People who have strong
  religious commitment are more connected to each
  other
• Ritual -- Rituals in and of themselves
  have health benefits they also give a sense of
  security
• Appreciation of Beauty -- Nearly everyone
  revels in natures beauty the faithful are
  reminded to look up and enjoy the view

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Why Faith Heals . . .

• Worship -- Through song, dance, uplifted
  hands or prayer, worship bathes us in a variety
  of healing faith factors (ritual, social support,
  beauty)
• Serenity -- In the midst of stress, forms
  of meditation create a relaxation response,
  reducing the damaging effects of that stress
• Confession -- Faith can drive us to make
  good on our guilt confession and forgiveness
  allow us to learn from our mistakes and move on

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Why Faith Heals . . .

• Temperance -- Most faiths take a negative
  view of risk factors for illness and disease
  drunkenness, sexual immorality, smoking,
  overeating
• Hope -- Those with deep faith believe that
  God has their best interests at heart regardless
  of their circumstances present worries pale in
  comparison to the wonder of Gods ultimate
  promises
• Unity -- An opportunity to gather and
  communicate bring healing into faith-based
  environments accountability helps keep a focus
  on faith-based values

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Why Faith Heals . . .

• Meaning -- The presence of hope, social
  support, and unity gives meaning and purpose to
  life
• Trust -- People of faith do what they are
  able with the strength, ingenuity and desire that
  God gives them, and trust Him for the results a
  positive, health-preserving sense of peace
  results
• Love -- Gods love, and love reflected in
  behavior of friends and family, blunts the effect
  of physical and emotional trauma healing power
  of love sometimes seen best when its lost

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Prayer does not change God, but it changes him
who prays. -- Soren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855
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If God had designated an ideal place to bring
down men and womens emotional barriers, He could
have designed no better environment than the
doctors office or hospital.
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Keys to Influence Spiritual Health

• Influence requires professional competence
• Influence requires character
• Influence requires compassion

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Physicians and nurses can be powerful spiritual
forces for healing by being there with their
patients, by being attentive, and by
demonstrating caring, and professional and
personal concern for patients.
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Addressing Spiritual Self Care Needs
. . . you shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with
all your mind, and with all your strength. The
second is this, You shall love your neighbor as
yourself. There is no other commandment greater
than these. Mark 1230-31
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Addressing Spiritual Self Care Needs
Love God completely Love others
compassionately Love yourself correctly
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There are two ways of spreading light to be
the candle or the mirror that reflects it. --
Edith Wharton
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How can health be evaluated?

• Objective data
• Independent observation (family, friends)
• Self-evaluation (questionnaire)

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A Popular Platform

• Public media has turned an eye onto this issue,
  and the research findings
• Time, McCalls, Family Circle, Prevention,
  Self, NY Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times,
  Cooking Light, ABC World News Tonight, USA Today,
  The Today Show, Good Morning America, Gentlemans
  Quarterly, Omni, Readers Digest . . .

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What the research shows . . .

• 95 of Americans express belief in God
• Nearly 3 in 4 claim that they base their
  approach to life on their religious beliefs
• 63 of patients desire to have their doctor
  address religious faith - only 10 of physicians
  do so
• Levels of religious practice are
  significantly related to health status,
  regardless of age, even after controlling for
  education, social class, and social membership

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What the research shows . . .

• Less than 2/3 family physicians believe that
  God exists
• Less than 25 report believing in a personal
  God, believing in an afterlife, or having a close
  relationship with God
• More than 1/4 were atheists or agnostics
• Only 5 of doctors report that religious and
  spiritual issues were regularly addressed in
  their training
• As of April, 1996, 20 medical schools
  include a course on addressing faith issues with
  patients

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Application in Clinical Settings

• HYPERTENSION
• Persons who both attended church frequently
  and rated their religion as very important had
  lower diastolic blood pressures
• Findings even more impressive in smokers who
  rated religion as important and attended church
  at least once weekly

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Application in Clinical Settings

• ARTERIOSCLEROTIC HEART DISEASE
• Risk of dying from heart disease was much
  less for men who attended church at least once a
  week risk for frequent church attenders was only
  60 of the risk for men who attended infrequently
• At least 6 community-based studies have
  shown that the religiously committed person,
  particularly the church attender, has a greater
  chance of living longer than do persons lacking a
  religious commitment

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Application in Clinical Settings

• DRUG/ALCOHOL ABUSE
• 20 studies have examined relationship
  between religion and drug use
• Drug abuse is related to the absence of
  religious commitment in a persons life
• In 10/11 studies, religious commitment
  protected against alcohol abuse

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Application in Clinical Settings

• SUICIDE
• Persons who did not attend church were 4 x
  more likely to commit suicide than were frequent
  church attenders
• DELIQUENCY
• 12/13 studies found that religious
  commitment - particularly church attendance -
  played a protective role against delinquency

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Application in Clinical Settings

• CORONARY CARE OUTCOMES
• Intercessory prayer for CCU patients, double
  blind
• Daily prayer for rapid recovery,
  prevention of complications and death other
  areas they believed to be beneficial
• RESULTS
• Fewer cases of CHF, fewer cardiopulmonary
  arrests, fewer cases needing intubation or
  ventilation, fewer cases of pneumonia in the
  group that was consistently prayed for

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A Medieval Perspective . . .
For when the wretched man findyng all helpe of
man not able to uphold him from perishing, being
striken with the mightie hande of God, feleth him
selfe unable to stande, no soundes in his bodye,
no strength in his limmes, no helpe of nature to
resist the violence of that disease that Gods
displeasure hath laid upon him, seeth no signe of
Gods grace in his soule, but the deep woundes
that Gods anger hath left in his conscience,
perceiveth no token to argue him thelect of God
and partaker of the death of his Saviour,
hearyng pronounced that the soule which sinneth
shall die, knowyng him selfe to have sinned, and
felying him selfe dying alas what helpe
remaineth in this extremitie? -- Anne Lock, 1560
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Introductory interview questions

• Is religion or spirituality important to
  you?
• Do your religious or spiritual beliefs
  influence the way you look at your medical
  problems and the way you think about your health?
• Would you like me to address your religious
  or spiritual beliefs and practices with you?

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Introductory interview questions

• Do you attend religious services? (If
  yes, how often do you attend? Which church?)
• Do you pray? (If yes, how frequently?)
• How important is religion to you? (If
  very or somewhat, go to next question?)
• Is your relationship with God more formal or
  personal?

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Faith Stories

• PRINCIPLES
• They should fit as a natural part of
  conversation
• They should take no more than 2 minutes
• They should be about God/Bible/relationship
  to God, not about church or a book
• They should provide a glimpse of what its
  like to be Gods child

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Faith Stories

• THEY SHOULD AVOID
• Religious jargon
• Pushing for a decision
• Becoming a sermon
• Identifying you as a member of a specific
  religious group or denomination
• Identifying faith as a reason for not doing
  something
• Attempts to convict