This little book is an excellent, practical resource

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	• Spirituality and Patient Care: Why, How, When, and What Harold G Koenig Templeton Foundation Press, 2007 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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This little book is an excellent, practical resource

Harold Koenig is a leading expert in the field of religion and health. He is a member of the faculty of the departments of psychiatry and medicine at Duke University. He has published widely in the areas of religion and mental health and geriatrics . He has co-authored or authored 15 books and 150 peer-reviewed journal articles. This pocket-sized book will be useful for clinicians, especially physicians, psychologists, social workers and nurses.

Prior to the year 2000, nearly 1200 studies had examined the relationship between religion and health, with the majority finding a link between religion and better health. In the past five years many new studies have also been conducted that support the findings from older ones. Before dismissing the findings on religion and health as irrelevant to patient care, clinicians should have a basic knowledge of the research that now exists.

Whether religion is good or bad for health, studies indicate that it is a powerful factor influencing adaptation to illness, medical decisions, health beliefs and behaviors. Although we continue to struggle with how to apply information relating religion and health to clinical practice, sensitive and sensible applications do exist. This little book is an excellent, practical resource that will help in doing just that.

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Advice for healthcare professionals

This book starts by offering lots of statistics that show that those with some kind of religious or spiritual faith are usually healthier, longer lived and more able to cope with their illnesses; it seemed that the first lesson to learn from this book was that every patient should Get Religion Now. The author continued by discussing the role of the healthcare professional in providing spiritual care to the patient, how to take a 'spiritual history' (required by law in the US), whether or not to pray with the patient, the potential difficulties that a spirituality can cause (for example some may see illness or sickness as a sign that their god has turned from them), the work of chaplains and how different parts of the healthcare system (doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, mental health professionals etc) might approach a patient's spirituality differently. He concludes with a model course curriculum to train healthcare professionals in taking a spiritual history and then an overview of the different beliefs of various religions and denominations as they affect the patient's healthcare choices.

As an American book there are some difficulties in incorporating its message here in the UK. For example, our medical set-ups are very different, particularly in terms of the time that healthcare professionals can spend with patients. The assumption in the book is also that the vast majority of patients and healthcare professionals have a religious faith and this isn't the case here. Interestingly this book deals with overall 'spirituality' and incorporates Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism and therefore its message is generally a non-specific 'faith' or 'belief' one without much differentiation as to the effect on the patient. The writing style was very dry and rather unengaging and there was quite a lot of repetition in the book but overall it is a useful contribution to the debate, despite its limitations.

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the Healer's calling

This book should be required by all Health Care Professionals to read. As a Professional Chaplain, I experience many staff members, in the hospital, who do not seem to express the heart that goes along with the healing of the patients, in the Body, the mind, and the Spirit, that is needed to bring about the healing of the total person. How can we experience God in our lives, if we can't see him within the people?

There is emerging research that demonstrates the effect of one?s spiritual beliefs on general health and well-being. More and more information points to the necessity of doing a religious/spiritual profile on a patient?in addition to a physical and lifestyle assessment?in order to provide the optimum plan for health and healing. This book explains the whys, hows, whens, and whats of addressing these spiritual issues in a practical and concise format.

This book is intended as a guide for practicing physicians, medical students, and residents to help identify and address the spiritual needs of patients. Those who will benefit most will be physicians who wish to know how to integrate spirituality into clinical practice in an effective and sensitive manner. Other professionals, such as nurses and chaplains, may use this book as they interact with doctors, other health professionals, and hospital administrators.

It outlines clearly the following points:

Why address spirituality into patient care?

How does a physician identify and address spiritual needs?

When does one take a spiritual history during the course of medical evaluation? When does a physician provide spiritual support or address spiritual needs?

What is the impact that physician involvement in this area can have on the patient?s ability to cope with illness, on the doctor-patient relationship, patient compliance, and on the course of medical illness and response to treatment?

Are there ethical boundaries that should not be crossed?

Are there times when spiritual beliefs can actually interfere with medical care, leading to health problems, or worsen disease outcomes?

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