Separation Anxiety Between
Religion and Medicine:
Reclaiming the Sacred Dimensions of Healing
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Medical Hospitality
and Physicians' Attitudes
Old time preachers used to ask, "What is
the state of your soul?" They knew that
human beings are more than bone and muscle,
flesh and blood. Physical and spiritual
health are so closely woven together that
when a doctor asks us, "Where does it hurt?"
we may not know if the pain is physical
or spiritual. I'm told that many people
see a doctor when they really just need
someone to give them a few minutes of undivided
attention. And as a pastor, I've noticed
that vague feelings of malaise or spiritual
'dis-ease' is sometimes an early warning
of physical illness.
Educators and physicians
in public institutions are understandably
cautious when they speak of religion. They
deal with patients who draw their faith
from every variety of religious expression
and heritage. In the hospital or the university,
the educators or doctors are "hosts"; students
or patients are "guests." Hospitality doesn't
necessarily mean having knowledge of all
the world's religions, but hospitality does
require that the listen to the guest and
respect the guest's faith.
The physician's religious
belief is unavoidably a part of the healing
equation. I'm not speaking of outward labels
such as Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist,
etc., but the condition of the "heart" which
guides the physician's actions. In the 1950's
psychologist Eric Fromm wrote in the Ladies'
Home Journal (a more popular if less
prestigious publication than the Journal
of the American Medical Association)
that healthy people love life and have the
ability to see value and beauty and mystery
even in inanimate objects. We are energized
just by being around such people. At the
other extreme are those who see little or
no value in people other than themselves;
they don't show a love or respect for life.
Fromm's writings often mixed psychology
and religion and this definition of psychological
health has a lot of religion in it. What
patient, if given a choice, wouldn't prefer
the doctor who loves life?
When I was in my 20s
I suffered a ruptured appendix. I had two
doctors: a resident and an attending physician.
The resident gave me the impression that
he really wanted me to get better. The attending
physician seemed as if he was bored with
my case and would rather be playing golf.
(I should add that this is not characteristic
of other physicians I know.)
The authors of the article
cite a Newsweek cover story entitled
"Faith & Healing". "Claudia Kalb, in the
November 10, 2003, issue examined the debate
over whether religion is good for medicine."
I think most of us who find ourselves in
the role of patient feel that sound medical
care and religious faith work together.
I know if I'm sick, I want all the help
I can get. — Richard, a pastor from
MissouriRole of the
Physician
The issue of physicians and spirituality
with patients is a complicated one, best
looked at through a contextual understanding.
Clearly, hospitals are not churches. Is
the physician doing the spiritual interventions
for the church (witnessing or evangelizing)
or for the hospital (treatment)? If it is
for treatment, then it should be fine—provided
the physician has training for the work.
Take prayer, for example: If a physician
prays for a patient, is he/she using a benedictory
or invocative approach? Is the prayer used
to wrap up the talk, or does the prayer
lead to a more in-depth revelation of the
patient's issues? The invocative approach
requires more time and is often dictated
by the patient's reaction. If the physician
does not know the differences between these
two simple types of prayer, he/she should
refer the patient to the religious/spiritual
expert, the chaplain. —Larry, a
director of pastoral services in North CarolinaSpiritual Histories
The issues around taking a spiritual history
from a patient are twofold. The first is
the history itself: What the questions are
that are being asked and the reasons behind
the questioning. The second is how that
information is utilized in the patient's
care. Clinically trained professional healthcare
chaplains are the best resources to be used
in addressing these two issues, including
what outcomes can be specifically tailored
to the persons' need in terms of his or
her health plan of care. Professional chaplains
are specialists in spiritual care, are extensively
trained in both spiritual assessment, and
possess tools and skills that can benefit
any hospital, hospice, long-care facility,
private practice or other health care practitioner.
For more information about professional
chaplaincy, visit the website of the Association
of Professional Chaplains. —Sue,
from Arizona
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