Religion and religious studies in health care and health education

Throughout history religion and medicine have been closely intertwined. This essay outlines some of the bases for cooperation between religious studies and the education and practice of allied health professionals. Four themes are identified in which religious perspectives encourage critical scrutiny of values and assumptions that shape health care: (1) definitions of health and sickness; (2) the relation of health as a human value to other human values; (3) attitudes toward the aged, incurable, deformed, or retarded individual; and (4) attitudes toward nature. Three areas are discussed in which religious studies may make specific contributions to the allied health curriculum: (1) preparing students for the encounter with pluralism; (2) supplying an existential focus on the experience of illness to supplement the technical focus of professional training; and (3) emphasizing the common humanity that links patient and health care provider.