Mobilizing Meaning: Religion and Spirituality Among Future Generations.

Religion and spirituality have long been known to impact both physical and mental health. Considering religion and spirituality as possible additions to social determinants of health, this article examines the current state of religion and spirituality in the United States and also discusses the ways in which they can contribute to the mental health of children and adolescents. Further, this article also discusses new approaches within religion and spirituality to address the changing needs of future generations.

Spirituality As A Determinant Of Health: Emerging Policies, Practices, And Systems.

Reimagining public health's future should include explicitly considering spirituality as a social determinant of health that is linked to human goods and is deeply valued by people and their communities. Spirituality includes a sense of ultimate meaning, purpose, transcendence, and connectedness. With that end in mind, we assessed how recommendations recently issued by an expert panel for integrating spiritual factors into public health and medicine are being adopted in current practice in the United States. These recommendations emerged from a systematic review of empirical evidence on spirituality, serious illness, and population health published between 2000 and 2022. For each recommendation, we reviewed current federal, state, and local policies and practices recognizing spiritual factors, and we considered the ways in which they reflected the panel's recommendations. In this article, we highlight opportunities for broader application and scale while also noting the potential harms and benefits associated with incorporating these recommendations in various contexts. This analysis, while respecting the spiritual and religious diversity of the US population, identifies promising approaches for strengthening US public health by integrating spiritual considerations to inform person- and community-centered policy and practice.

Spirituality in advanced cancer: implications for care in oncologic emergencies.

Spirituality-defined as "the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred"-plays important roles in the setting of serious illnesses such as cancer. The nature of oncologic emergencies, with their attendant imminent threat to life and urgent medical decision-making, renders more salient the frequent role of spirituality in the context of coping, spiritual needs, and medical decisions. Furthermore, these roles highlight the importance of spiritual care: recognition of and attention to patients' and their family's spirituality within medical care. Extant palliative care quality guidelines include spiritual care as a core domain of palliative care provision. Generalist spiritual care requires spiritual history-taking by clinicians and respect and integration of spirituality and spiritual values into medical care. Specialty spiritual care involves the integration of professionally trained spiritual care providers into the care of patients facing oncologic emergencies. Spiritual care is associated with better patient quality of life and greater transitions to more comfort-focused care; among family caregivers, it is associated with greater care satisfaction. Spiritual care is always patient-centered, and hence can be provided by clinicians regardless of their spiritual backgrounds. The integration of spiritual care into the care of patients and their families holds promise to advance holistic care and improve well-being in this setting of oncologic emergencies.

When income meets faith: the development and application of the Chinese generation Z unconventional religious orientation scale.

This study seeks to analyze the psychological construction of Unconventional Religious Orientations and their association with individual income level satisfaction within Generation Z. Generation Z, individuals born between 1995 and 2010, grew up in a socio-cultural context marked by digitization and globalization. This study identifies three key dimensions of Unconventional Religious Orientations: religious spiritual dependence, religious instrumental tendencies, and religious uniqueness identity. By combining rootedness theory, semi-structured interviews, and literature review, we constructed and refined a set of relevant scales. Using exploratory and validation factor analyses (EFA and CFA), we verified the structural validity of the scale. The results of the analyses revealed significant negative correlations between satisfaction with income level and all dimensions of Unconventional Religious Orientation for Generation Z, suggesting that Unconventional Religious Orientation tends to diminish as income satisfaction increases. In addition, the significant positive correlations between these dimensions of religious inclination imply that they may share certain underlying factors in their psychological structure. This study not only successfully developed a set of psychometric instruments for Unconventional Religious Orientations, but also provided a new psychological perspective for understanding the dynamic interaction between economic satisfaction and religious psychological attitudes in Generation Z.

Supporting Spiritual Care With the Saline Process™.

ABSTRACT: Living one's Christian faith and providing appropriate spiritual care in professional nursing practice can seem challenging. The IHS Global® Saline Process™ course equips Christian healthcare workers with knowledge and tools to provide appropriate spiritual support and consider how God is calling them to share his truth and love. After participating in a Saline Process™ course, ongoing engagement helps clinicians grow in practicing what they have learned. Nurses Christian Fellowship International (NCFI) partners with IHS Global® to bring the Saline Process™ to Christian nurses and other clinicians around the world, building the community of providers offering whole-person care.

Self-Reported Religiosity and Spirituality of Registered Nurses in Virginia.

ABSTRACT: The professional nurse cares for an increasingly diverse population, varying in ethnicity, culture, and faith beliefs that influence health and wellness. The moral obligation of the nurse to provide individualized, holistic care of clients includes spiritual care. Supported by the Agape Model of Nursing, nurses should understand their personal religiosity and its impact on the care they provide. The purpose of this study was to better understand the self-reported religiosity and spirituality of registered nurses licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Emotional intelligence, spiritual intelligence, depression and anxiety, and satisfaction with life among emerging adults in Israel and India: the impact of gender and individualism/collectivism.

Much research has focused on how emotional and spiritual intelligences promote well-being and help combat mental health issues. This comparative study, which was conducted in Israel and India with emerging adults enrolled in higher education, explored the relationship of emotional intelligence, spiritual intelligence, anxiety and depression, and satisfaction with life. The results in Israel showed a positive correlation of emotional intelligence with satisfaction with life, but in India, only spiritual intelligence correlated positively with satisfaction with life. In both groups, female participants scored higher on all variables than male participants. We offer initial explanations for these results.

Conversion practices in Aotearoa New Zealand: Developing a holistic response to spiritual abuse.

Research arising from conversion practices, also known as conversion therapy and sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts, has generally been underpinned by an emancipatory discourse that has evolved to counter harmful practices by evidencing associated harms and estimating prevalence. Little attention, however, has focused on what is required to support survivors, inclusive of those currently or those having previously experienced conversion efforts. Within a context of Aotearoa New Zealand having recently criminalised conversion practices, this study adopted an in-depth qualitative research design, informed by a dual adherence to life history and an empowerment methodology. Twenty-three religious conversion practice survivors, who had experienced religious conversion practices across a range of Christian identified faith settings, were interviewed. Participants had a median age of 34 and the majority identified as New Zealand European, cisgender, and gay. Participant narratives were discursively analysed. Three primary discourses were identified that inform the needed development of interventions and supports: 1) pervasive framing of conversion practices as harm, rather than spiritual abuse, has minimised the impacts of conversion practices. Rather, conceptualising conversion as spiritual abuse positions conversion practices as requiring urgent intervention and ongoing support, inclusive of the development of policy and operational responses; 2) the coercive nature of spiritual abuse needs to be appreciated in terms of spiritual, social, and structural entrapment; 3) the metaphor of a pipeline was enlisted to encapsulate the need for a multidimensional array of interventions to ensure those entrapped within spiritual abuse have a "pipeline to safety". Holistic survivor-centric conversion-related responses to spiritual abuse are required. These need to be informed by an understanding of entrapment and the associated need for holistic responses, inclusive of extraction pathways and support for those entrenched within abusive religious settings, support immediately after leaving abusive environments, and support throughout the survivors' healing journeys.

Should Healthcare Organizations Promote a Spiritually Healthy Work Environment?

Both personal spirituality/religiosity and perception of a spiritually respectful work climate are inversely related to burnout among nurses. In addition to briefly reviewing the empirical evidence that consistently supports these assertions, this essay offers some practical suggestions for how nurses can promote a spiritually healthy work environment.

"God is going to help me get through this": spirituality perspectives from Hispanic adolescent and young adult cancer survivors.

PURPOSE: Describe spirituality's role in a sample of Hispanic adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors. METHODS: This phenomenology-informed convergent parallel mixed-methods study aimed to explore participants' lived experiences with hope during cancer treatments and cancer survivorship. A purposive sample of Hispanic AYAs who completed cancer treatments 2-5 years ago were virtually recruited for participation. Participants completed virtual semi-structured interviews about their experiences with hope during cancer treatments and cancer survivorship and prepared narratives about their experiences. Thematic analyses were iteratively performed across the data set to identify final themes. RESULTS: Ten Hispanic AYA cancer survivors (mean age 30.2, SD = 4.5) years participated in this pilot study. Seven participants (70%) were female, and three participants (30%) were male. Six participants (60%) experienced non-hematologic malignancies, and four participants (40%) experienced hematologic malignancies. Eight (80%) participants' language preference was Spanish, while two (20%) participants' language preference was English. The theme spirituality and subthemes living by faith, god as a resource, and spiritual gratitude were identified as concepts participants linked to their conceptualization of hope during cancer treatment and survivorship. CONCLUSIONS: Hope and spirituality may be conceptually linked to coping behaviors among Hispanic AYA cancer survivors. Hope through faith may be a learned spiritual value in Hispanic AYAs and might play a role in their spiritual and cognitive development. Further research is needed to explore the potentially protective value of hope and spirituality for the Hispanic AYA population.

Socio-cultural beliefs and perceptions influencing diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer among women in Ghana: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is currently the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Ghana and the leading cause of cancer mortality among women. Few published empirical evidence exist on cultural beliefs and perceptions about breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in Ghana. This systematic review sought to map evidence on the socio-cultural beliefs and perceptions influencing the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer among Ghanaian women. METHODS: This review was conducted following the methodological guideline of Joanna Briggs Institute and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses. The literature search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL via EBSCOhost, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Embase. Studies that were conducted on cultural, religious, and spiritual beliefs were included. The included studies were screened by title, abstract, and full text by three reviewers. Data were charted and results were presented in a narrative synthesis form. RESULTS: After the title, abstract, and full-text screening, 15 studies were included. Three categories were identified after the synthesis of the charted data. The categories included: cultural, religious and spiritual beliefs and misconceptions about breast cancer. The cultural beliefs included ancestral punishment and curses from the gods for wrongdoing leading to breast cancer. Spiritual beliefs about breast cancer were attributed to spiritual or supernatural forces. People had the religious belief that breast cancer is a test from God and they resorted to prayers for healing. Some women perceived that breast cancer is caused by spider bites, heredity, extreme stress, trauma, infections, diet, or lifestyle. CONCLUSION: This study adduces evidence of the socio-cultural beliefs that impact on the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer among women in Ghana. Taking into consideration the diverse cultural and traditional beliefs about breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, there is a compelling need to intensify nationwide public education on breast cancer to clarify the myths and misconceptions about the disease. We recommend the need to incorporate socio-cultural factors influencing breast cancer diagnosis and treatment into breast cancer awareness programs, education, and interventions in Ghana.

[Should fire cutters be thrown into the fire ?] / Faut-il jeter au feu les coupeurs de feu ?

Spirituality (in addition to laughter) is inherent to humans. When their health deteriorates, especially in the field of oncology, people often seek help through it. Prayer is the most commonly used tool and is sometimes entrusted to a particular person believed to possess certain powers referred to as a «fire cutter¼. It is then used in a targeted manner against specific symptoms such as burns. No biophysical effects are known. This intercession brings secondary benefits (positive effects on anxiety, stress, placebo effect) that can improve the patients' health. It is not the healthcare provider's mission to prescribe these spiritual practices, but they should be able to recognize them and openly discuss with patient who choose to use them, knowing that a benefit is likely to be reached.

La spiritualité (en plus du rire) est le propre de l'homme. Quand son état de santé se dégrade, en particulier en cancérologie, il y cherche souvent une aide. La prière est l'outil le plus souvent utilisé. Elle est parfois confiée à une personne particulière dotée de certains pouvoirs appelée «coupeur de feu¼. La prière est alors utilisée de manière ciblée contre une symptomatologie spécifique type brûlure. Aucun effet biophysique n'est connu. Cette intercession amène des bénéfices secondaires (effet sur l'anxiété, le stress, effet placebo) à même d'améliorer l'état de santé des patients. Le soignant n'a pas pour mission de prescrire ces accompagnements qui relèvent du spirituel, mais doit savoir les reconnaître et en discuter de manière ouverte avec le patient y ayant recours, sachant qu'un bénéfice sera vraisemblablement au rendez-vous.

Spirituality is associated with immune parameters and disease activity in primary Sjögren's syndrome: a cross-sectional study.

The role of spirituality in health and disease is a complex and emerging area of research. Incorporating spirituality into the bio-psycho-social model of health and disease leading to the bio-psycho-social-spiritual model provides a more comprehensive framework. In this context, chronic disorders like primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) are of interest due to their intricate interactions between biological, psychological, and spiritual factors. This study explored the relationship between spirituality, immune parameters, and disease activity in pSS patients. Data from 108 patients were analyzed, including self-assessed spirituality (answering to direct questions and completing the Spiritual Transcendence Scale), immunological parameters and disease activity scores. The findings revealed several associations. Individuals with spiritual attitudes or engaged in regular prayer/meditation showed lower serum levels of autoantibodies specific to pSS and lower disease activity scores. Spiritual engagement was also linked to decreased perceived skin and tracheal dryness, suggesting potential benefits for physical symptoms. These findings suggest that spirituality may play a significant role in modulating immune responses and disease activity in pSS patients. The study underscores the importance of considering spirituality as an integral part of the holistic approach to health and disease, further expanding the understanding of the interconnectedness of biological, psychological, and spiritual dimensions.

Healthcare Students' Perceptions About Approaching Spirituality in Their Training and Patient Care: Online, Cross-Sectional Survey.

Objective: Recent scientific literature points out that religiosity and spirituality play a relevant role in many aspects of life, including health issues. We aimed to evaluate the healthcare students' perceptions about approaching spirituality in their training and patient care in Brazilian universities. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted following the STROBE guidelines. Through an anonymous online survey, adult healthcare students from two universities in the city of Pelotas (Brazil) answered a questionnaire about their perceptions on approaching spirituality in their training and patient care. Chi-squared tests were performed, and P ≤ .05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 163 students were included in the analysis. Most believed that spirituality is important for their training (74.8%) and patient care (84%). However, a minority had had contact with the theme of spirituality during their training (48.5%) or had experienced a situation in which the spiritual aspects of a patient were addressed (47.2%). The students from the private university had more contact with the theme of spirituality in healthcare during their training. Nursing students had significantly more contact with the theme of spirituality in healthcare (P = .008) and had experienced more situations in which the spiritual aspects of a patient were addressed (P = .031) than other students. Conclusion: Most students believed that the theme of spirituality in healthcare is important for their training and patient care. However, they still had insufficient contact with it during their education. More studies with greater statistical power are needed to better understand this situation globally.