Prescribing Spirituality

The Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) in 2007 published a supplement containing ten scientific articles on spirituality and health, and its place in current clinical practice in Australia. Prior studies have found that practicing spirituality increases longevity, decreases mental health illness, and decreases health service utilisation. The health benefits of practicing spirituality are clear, but how should these issue be addressed?

Image Source

There is a difference between religion and spirituality: religion is a language used to express spirituality, whereas spirituality in itself has become something personal that is defined by each individual. What place does spirituality and religion have in current clinical practice? Practicing religion, or having faith in the divine has long been associated with healing, but Western medicine has split the art of healing into a science of illness which focuses solely on the body, without thought of the spirit. Throughout modern history, at times of greatest despair and illness, people have turned to their faith and spirituality to help with the healing process. Illness often is the motivation to rediscover spirituality.

Is it time for our general practitioners to prescribe a dose of spirituality? There are dangers inherent with this notion. Specifically, personal belief systems could be imposed on fragile and susceptible patients. Although, doctors already often need to put aside their personal beliefs in terms of drug therapy, or controversial treatments in order to provide best practice care, would spiritual advice be any different? Could doctors without any belief or thoughts on spirituality themselves be qualified to advise on spiritual matters? Is spirituality an issue that first must be experienced to be understood and conceptualised?

It is not surprising that those who practice some sort of spirituality have better health than those who do not. Organised religion at least provides a social support structure, a sense of belonging and hope. A suggestion from the articles is that GP’s incorporate the spiritual beliefs of the patients into their treatment by obtaining a brief spiritual history. This approach allows sensitivity to the patients beliefs regardless of further treatment or disease progression, and would be useful to maintain as part of the patient’s medical history.

Patients without a developed sense of spirituality may be those who could benefit most by health professionals flagging this as a potential health issue. But patients need to be ready to discover their own spirituality. It is not something that can be imposed on the unwilling. The acceptance of spirituality as an important component of self must be undertaken by the individual when the time is right.

There is definitely a call for spiritual sensitivity when treating health issues. To the spiritually naïve, this may be best approached by developing the idea of spirituality as an important component of holistic well-being. The health professional would be able to cite the ever growing evidence base showing health benefits associated with adopting this approach. For the spiritually enlightened, this means being sensitive to their beliefs, and encouraging active spirituality and treating the patient as a physical, emotional and spiritual being.