Disciplines
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• Pathology And Anatomical Sciences
• Physical Medicine And Rehabilitation
• Physical Therapy
• Radiology
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• Nutrition Science
• Pharmacology
• Child Health
• Health Psychology
• Neurology
• Occupational Therapy
• Physical Medicine And Rehabilitation
• Physical Therapy
Religion and medicine: While the intention
of religion and health is to nurture the individual,
religion and health can sometimes become a
confrontation of values. The medical profession's
set of values and operational procedures can
conflict with corresponding values found in
people of faith. This disconnect can go both
ways and apply to both the patient and practitioner,
which can impact quality of care.
Differing beliefs:
Patients may come from worldviews that hold
different beliefs about what causes illness
and acceptable ways to treat it. If there
is a difference in values or ethics concerning
the correct way to treat a specific illness,
should the values of the patient or the
doctor prevail? Some religions, such as
Islam, have rules of conduct about nudity/modesty,
touching of a person's body, and being alone
with a member of the opposite sex, even
if it is a medical practitioner.
Various religions have
views about the sacredness of the body and
the will of God that may prevent believers
from consenting to medical intervention.
Christian Science, for example, holds that
the ills of the flesh can be healed through
prayer and faith in God. Traditionally,
believers do not rely on conventional medicine,
though there is no formal compulsion to
eschew medical means. Some animists believe
that illness is caused by evil spirits or
brought on by offending deceased ancestors,
rather than physical conditions. Medical
practitioners can be sensitive to these
beliefs when performing examinations or
recommending a course of care.
Ethical choices:
Practitioners also face ethical choices
that might conflict with professional values.
They face questions of whether they should
be required to provide a type of care they
find morally inconsistent with their values
- such as a pharmacist whose religious values
might stand in the way of filling a prescription
for an emergency contraceptive or for birth-control
for an unmarried woman, or a Catholic surgeon
who may not believe in performing surgeries
to prevent pregnancy. There is ongoing debate
over "conscience clause" legislation
that seeks to protect pharmacists from filling
prescriptions for drugs they find morally
objectionable while still protecting a patient's
right to have prescriptions filled. Some
pharmacists who have lost their jobs or
been disciplined are filing lawsuits.
The debate in stem-cell
research extends to both the ethics of government
funding and concerns over value of life.
Some say that the possible ability to cure
many serious diseases is worth compromising
the potential life of an embryo; others
say potential life is sacred and should
not be compromised for any reason. Religious
believers come on both sides of the debate
(see Biology and Stem Cell Research). With
advances in this technology there will also
be debates as to whether patients will choose
or have the right to choose to be treated
with these cures.
These are questions that
practitioners and patients wrestle with
in hospitals and clinics nationwide. The
Center on Religion & the Professions is devoted to helping bridge
those gaps through creating curriculum and
education. For example, the Center is developing
a series of short courses for medical, nursing
and health professionals to help them understand
how clients' religious beliefs and practices
may come in conflict with traditional medical
practices and ways to approach these situations.
National issues:
Some medical institutions, such as Catholic
hospitals, operate under the purview of
privately funded religious organizations.
There is some debate as to whether these
institutions have the right to refuse to
treat illnesses in certain ways or refuse
to write or fill prescriptions for religiously
objectionable drugs. The debate centers
on whether the religious freedom to which
such institutions are entitled trumps a
patient's right to complete care, also extending
to related liability issues.
Debates over stem-cell
research, therapeutic cloning, abortion,
contraceptives and other medical treatments
make up a large and influential part of
political and public discussion. Other issues
involve differences in how medical professionals
and religious communities choose to confront
the crisis of AIDS. For example, some people's
religious beliefs might dictate not providing
some types of care to AIDS sufferers due
to beliefs about how patients' lifestyles
may have affected how they were infected
with the disease. Others, guided by religious
beliefs, believe extending help to those
with AIDS is an obligation.
Working professionals in
the medical care industry confront differing
sets of values and must learn to navigate
these in their professional life. In addition,
changes to national policy will also have
an effect on the professional's work. Understanding
that culture is constantly evolving will
allow the professional to adapt to a field
often defined by ethical issues.
Workplace issues:
Chaplains in hospital and professional settings
are a growing phenomenon. They must be versed
in a variety of religions because they often
are speaking with people of different faith
backgrounds. It is helpful for chaplains
to have knowledge of the languages and cultures
most likely to be encountered in their communities.
Understanding the various traditions' beliefs
about the body, health and the afterlife
also assists in care.
Recent studies show that
doctors in the United States are more likely
to be Muslim, Buddhist or Jewish than the
rest of the population. Nursing shortages
in the U.S. have also led to employing more
nurses from overseas, while many medical
students come to American medical schools
from abroad and obtain positions in the
U.S. This diversity offers both potential
for greater understanding and improved care
and possible misunderstandings or cultural
clashes in a medical setting.
Health campaigns:
Some ethnic groups are more susceptible
to certain medical conditions. For example,
Latinos are vulnerable to Type 2 diabetes,
African-Americans to sickle-cell anemia,
and eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jews to
Tay-Sachs disease. Although these are ethnic
factors, religion is often a bonding force
in these communities. Health education campaigns
targeting religious groups can be a way
to effectively distribute messages about
these issues.
The Center is affiliated
with the MU School of Journalism, which
is researching ways to target ethnic
groups with media messages about health
campaigns. One project focuses on how to
use media to better inform African-American
women about breast cancer examinations.
Religious institutions can act as clearinghouses
for information and be distributors of health
campaign material. The Center's focus on
education in religious communities makes
it a good conduit for such a partnership.
Faith and healing:
Research has sought to find relationships
between religion and healing. Research shows
prayer's value in helping people recover
from illness is ambiguous, with some studies
showing better recovery in those who prayed
or were prayed for, whether or not they
were aware of it; and others showing no
relation between prayer and healing.
The practice of "faith
healing," a spiritual means of treating
illness, prompts healing through the power
of the Holy Spirit through laying on of
hands, or relies on intercessory prayer
of a saint or person with the gift of healing.
Though scientific studies have not indicated
success resulting from faith healing, many
people do resort to faith healing, particularly
in cases of incurable disease. Some people
believe it should be the primary or sole
remedy, which poses particular ethical concerns
for medical professionals when parents decline
or refuse medical care for their children,
based on their religious rights to choose
to rely on alternative healing.
Practitioners could also
be aware of practices such as Ayruvedic
medicine, a Hindu approach to healthy living
that considers physical, mental, social
and spiritual harmony. While considered
an "alternative" form of treatment
in the U.S., it is embraced in several other
countries, and is growing in popularity
and acceptance in the U.S.
The Center's research:
According to the Center's research, people
of faith don't always have a better medical
outcome, but seem to feel better about the
outcome and have better sense of well-being
than non-spiritual patients, even if ill
or terminal. The Center's Spirituality and
Health project's team of diverse faculty
and professionals has expertise in religious
studies, cultural anthropology, social work,
medical sociology, neuropsychology, health
psychology, rehabilitation medicine and
oncology. Its current research project is
investigating the relationships that exist
among spirituality, religion, physical health
and mental health in individuals with chronic
illnesses and disabilities such as traumatic
brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke,
cancer, ventilator-dependent pulmonary disorders
and other physical conditions.
Follow-up studies will
look at the efficacy of mindfulness-based
stress reduction on persons with chronic
disabilities; transcendence and right hemisphere
functioning; and spirituality as a personality
construct. The Center is pursuing funding
to study spirituality and health-risk behaviors
in adolescents and the relationship between
neuroscience and religion.
Issues today: Having
staff that are religiously and culturally
literate helps bridge gaps in patient care.
Medical staff that speak languages of patients
so information can be communicated without
the need of a translator - often a young
relative, in recent immigrant families -
is also helpful. Medical practices can be
conscious of having staff that reflect the
cultural makeup of the community they serve
and engage in teaching about religious practices
and beliefs.
Researchers can study conscience
challenges in the workplace, such as how
often conscience plays a role in providing
or choosing not to provide a particular
medication, surgery or treatment. Do people
of the same faith practice these principles
differently in a medical context? What roles
do laws play in affecting or changing attitudes
about religious and medical practice? Researchers
could study whether chaplains aid in healing
or are helpful in a hospice setting. They
could also study the impacts of diversity
among medical practitioners and patients,
or work with the Center on further research
into religion/spirituality, health, healing
and well-being.
Journal
of Religion & Health
Zygon:
Journal of Religion & Science
Journal
of Religion, Spirituality & Aging
Journal
of Religion, Disability & Health
Studies
in Religion/Sciences religieuses
Mental
Health, Religion, & Culture
American
Academy of Religion Syllabi Search
Religious
Factors in Health Care
Dr. Paul Duckro
St. Louis University
Medicine,
Religion and Politics in Africa and the
African Diaspora
Prof. Erica James
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Healing:
Sacred and Secular
Dr. James W. Jones
Rutgers University
Religion
and Medicine
Hunter E. Woodall
American Scientific Affiliation: A Fellowship of Christians in Science
Association of Muslim Health Professionals
Association of Christian Engineers and Scientists: (503) 228-0779
Association of Muslim Scientists & Engineers
Australian Faith Community Nurses Association
Catholic Health Association of the United States
Catholic Health Association of Canada
Catholic Medical Association
Christian Academics
Christian Chiropractors Association
Christian Community Health Fellowship
Christian Dental Society
Christian Medical Fellowship
Christian Medical and Dental Association
Christian Medical & Dental Society Canada
Christian Medical Fellowship (Glasgow)
Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International
Christian Physical Therapists International
Christians in Caring Professions
Fellowship of Christian Optometrists
Fellowship of Christian Physician Assistants
Georgia Association of Physicians of Indian Heritage
Health Ministries Association
Health Physics Society Christian Fellowship
Interfaith Health & Wellness Association
International Christian Medical & Dental Association
Islamic Medical Association of North America
Muslim Doctors and Dentists Association UK
Nurses Christian Fellowship
Occupational Therapists for Christ
Pagan Alliance of Nurses
Pagan Birth and Parenting Professionals
Southern Medical Association
• Also see listing for Business
• See a full list of professional associations and resources here.
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