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Spiritual Care: Define and Redefine Self
1Department of Health Sciences, College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Fiji National University, Suva, Fiji. skannandr@gmail.com.
Journal of Religion and Health
|June 14, 2016
Summary
Spiritual care, rooted in ancient medicine, faces modern hesitancy due to limited high-grade evidence. This paper explores spiritual care therapy, its current evidence, and challenges for integration into allopathic medicine.
Area of Science:
- Integrative Medicine
- Holistic Healthcare
- Medical Humanities
Background:
- Spiritual care has historical roots in traditional medicine systems.
- Modern medicine often hesitates to integrate spiritual care due to a perceived lack of robust scientific evidence.
- This gap highlights a need to bridge traditional wisdom with contemporary clinical practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide a foundational understanding of spiritual care therapy.
- To review the existing body of evidence supporting spiritual care.
- To identify and analyze the challenges associated with incorporating spiritual care into allopathic (conventional Western) medicine.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of spiritual care therapy and its evidence base.
- Analysis of barriers to integrating spiritual care in modern medical settings.
- Exploration of potential strategies for overcoming these challenges.
Main Results:
- Spiritual care encompasses a range of practices aimed at addressing the spiritual dimension of health and well-being.
- While high-grade evidence is still developing, existing research suggests potential benefits in certain patient populations.
- Significant challenges include a lack of standardized protocols, insufficient training for practitioners, and skepticism within the medical community.
Conclusions:
- Further research is needed to generate high-quality evidence for spiritual care interventions.
- Overcoming challenges requires interdisciplinary collaboration, education, and a shift in perspective towards holistic patient care.
- Integrating spiritual care thoughtfully can enhance patient well-being and complement conventional medical treatments.
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