Working with Individuals

Healthcare providers need to be empowered by awareness of these major religions through education and training. When providers listen to a patient’s spirituality and religious beliefs, they can build a positive relationship together and this in turn, increases satisfaction on both ends and is shown to even decrease medical errors as well. As providers of health, physicians strive to understand the underlying causes of these and improve their cultural competence in order to provide the full benefits to R/S in a person’s life.

Religion and spirituality have empirical impacts on an individual’s life. There are indeed multiple cases where religious association has been linked to better health outcomes as well as riskier health decisions. Many religions call the individual to consider his or her body sacred for honoring God or another aspect of their religion. From this view, the body has a value to oneself as well as the family and friends around it. Below are some examples and resources for providers or students working with individuals. These links to articles and guides will hopefully help providers to more smoothly navigate talking with religious persons and taking note how individual’s health is affected through R/S practices.

Providers may begin at a religions assessment to gauge the beliefs and practices of their patients or clients (?)

• Taking a spiritual/religious history
  • Physicians and Patient Spirituality: Professional Boundaries, Competency, and Ethics
    • Beginning to appreciate spiritual aspects of combating illness. Article explores physician-patient relationship and medical ethics of bringing up spirituality in clinics.
    • Spiritual needs assessment, interviewing, boundaries, etc. 
  • The Spiritual Assessment
    • About the Spiritual Assessment, what it is, when to use it, and how it can help specific patients.
  • For medical students:
  • Understanding the Role of Spirituality in Medicine – A Resource for Medical Students
    • This resource tips and tools for patient interviews. 

Different examples of health issues that are influenced by R/S.

• Incorporating R/S perspectives into Treatment Plans
  • Religion and Spirituality among American Indian, South Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latina, and White Women in the Study on Stress, Spirituality, and Health
    • R/S on minority women dealing with stress 
  • Rethinking Cultural Competence: Shifting to Cultural Humility
    • Incorporating cultural humility and competence in treatment. Discusses training providers in cultural humility, based on “self-reflexivity, appreciation of patients’ lay expertise, openness to sharing power with patients, and to continue learning from one’s patients”.
  • Exploring the vagueness of Religion & Spirituality in complex pediatric decision-making: a qualitative study
    • Influence of R/S on parents when making decisions for their children. Explores how providers interact with parents that put a lot of weight on R/S.
  • Religion and Spiritual Care in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: Parental Attitudes Regarding Physician Spiritual and Religious Inquiry
    • Improved understanding of parental R/S can be important in decision making and professional spiritual expertise can enhance care for critically ill children. Article characterizes parental attitudes regarding physician inquiry into their belief system.
  • Physicians’ attitudes and views regarding religious fasting during pregnancy and review of the literature
    • Survey of OB/GYN providers and their thoughts and practices on religious fasting during pregnancy. Also, a review of possible maternal and fetal consequences of fasting.
  • Religion and Spirituality: A Barrier and a Bridge in the Everyday Professional Work of Pediatric Physicians
    • Interview of pediatricians and pediatric oncologists to determine whether they think R/S is relevant to their practice. “Physicians view religion and spirituality as a barrier when it impedes medical recommendations and as a bridge when it helps families answer questions medicine inherently cannot”. 

Sample Interview Guide

A large proportion of providers largely expressed confidence in their ability to meet the needs of multicultural clients. But almost half of them had not gone thru cross-cultural training. From a “‘cultural awareness’ perspective, this sample guide can help in facilitating communication during a medical appointment or meeting.

1. Would you consider yourself religious?
   • Do you think that you encounter many religious individuals at your workplace?
2. Do you think you have a good grasp on how R/S affects medical decision making?
   • Does your workplace have a protocol or a system in place to take R/S preferences into account?
   • Yes/No: Do you recall having any training or education on cultural/religious competency at your work or in earlier education (med/grad school)?
3. Can you recall any notable instances where one of your patients or clients had religious concerns that affected your thought process and decision making for their health?
   • How did your knowledge of R/S help/hinder your decision making? And what was the compromise?
4. What resources are available to you to learn more about R/S and patient preferences?
   • What future resources would you like to see in your workplace or online to help you and your colleagues?