Does Forgiveness Underlie the Relationship Between Religiosity and Meaning in Life Among Members of Sexaholics Anonymous in Poland?
AbstractReligiosity and meaning in life are recognized as factors supporting recovery from addictions. However, little is known about the moral mechanisms involved in the relationship between religiosity and meaning in life among individuals with addictions. The main purpose of this study was to test the direct and indirect (through forgiveness by God/higher power and interpersonal forgiveness) relationships between subjective religiosity and the presence of meaning in life among 80 members (72 men and 8 women) of Sexaholics Anonymous (SA) in Poland. The following measures we re used: a single-item measure of subjective ...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - June 9, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Offender Rehabilitation: The Middle Way of Maimonides to Mental and Social Health
AbstractTraditional religious and spiritual texts offer a surprising wealth of relevant theoretical and practical knowledge about human behavior. This wellspring may contribute significantly to expanding our current body of knowledge in the social sciences, and criminology in particular. In Jewish religious texts, specifically by Maimonides, we can find profound analyses of human traits and guidelines for a normative way of life. Among other things, modern criminological literature attempts to link certain character traits and divergent behaviors. Using the hermeneutic phenomenological approach, this present study analyzed...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - June 8, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Physicians Disclosing Religion in Online Biographies: Patient Perceptions and Decision-Making in the United States
AbstractThe inclusion of personal information about a healthcare provider is becoming more prevalent within online biographies as a means to help patients make more informed decisions about their future care. While many physicians indicate they are religious, and that spiritual well-being is an important part of one ’s overall health, what is unclear is what impact this sort of disclosure within an online biography might have on a prospective patient’s perceptions of that provider. The current study took the form of a 2 (gender of provider: man; woman) × 2 (religion disclosure: yes; no) × 2 (activ ity: singin...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - June 6, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Antinociceptive Efficacy of Shamanic Healing for the Management of Temporomandibular Disorders: An Evidence-Based Review
AbstractThe aim of this evidence-based review was to assess the antinociceptive efficacy of shamanic healing (SH) for management of temporomandibular disorders (TMD). The addressed focused question was “Is SH effective for the management of TMD?” Indexed databases were searched without time and language restrictions up to and including January 2023 using the following keywords: “disc displacement disorders”; “healing”; “inflammation”; “pain”; “shamanic”; “therapy”; “t emporomandibular joint”; “temporomandibular disorders” and “temporomandibular joint disorders”. Clinical studies were...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - June 3, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Views of Family Members Who Take Care of an Elderly Person they Live with on Ageism, Spirituality and Death in Turkey: A Qualitative Approach
AbstractThis descriptive qualitative research examined the views of people caring for an elderly family member on ageism, spirituality, and death. A total of 12 people who lived in the same house as the elderly person they cared for made up the study sample. Data were collected via face-to-face, in-depth interviews using a structured interview format. The content analysis method was used for the data analysis. The analysis of the study data yielded three themes: the definition of ageism, the meaning of spirituality and its effects on care, and the position of death in life. The results indicated that living with and caring...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - June 2, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Pathways to Immunity: Patterns of Excess Death Across the United States and Within Closed Religious Communities
AbstractPublic health officials promoted COVID-19 vaccines to limit burdens placed on the U.S. healthcare system and end the pandemic. People in some closed religious communities refused to vaccinate and likely acquired temporary immunity through infection. This paper compares the death rates in Amish, Old Order Mennonites, and conservative Mennonite groups to a rate estimated for the U.S. population. Approximately two-thirds of the U.S. population was immunized against COVID-19, while few in the Amish/Mennonite community were. We find divergent patterns. Once vaccines became available, excess deaths declined in the genera...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - June 1, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Benefits of Spiritual and Religious Support in the Pain Management of Cancer Patients: A Literature Scoping Review
AbstractPain is one of the main symptoms of cancer and the most difficult to control due to its complexity as it can involve physical, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects. We proposed to summarize the scientific knowledge already published related to the influence of spirituality on pain therapy in cancer patients. Articles were searched in PubMed, SciELO, SciFinder, PsycInfo, and ScienceDirect databases using the following descriptors: “Spirituality,” “Religion,” “Religion,” “Chronic Pain,” “Pain Management” and “Cancer.” A total of 68 articles were included and discussed. Most articles de...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Informing the UK Muslim Community on Organ Donation: Evaluating the Effect of a National Public Health Programme by Health Professionals and Faith Leaders
AbstractThere is a significant shortage of transplantable organs in the UK particularly from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups, of which Muslims make a large proportion. The British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) held a nationwide series of community gatherings with the aim of describing the beliefs and attitudes to organ donation amongst British Muslims and evaluate the efficacy of a national public health programme on views and uncertainties regarding religious permissibility and willingness to register. Eight public forums were held across the UK between June 2019 and March 2020 by the British Islamic M...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Effect of Spirituality-Based Palliative Care on Pain, Nausea, Vomiting, and the Quality of Life in Women with Colon Cancer: A Clinical Trial in Southern Iran
In conclusion, this group spirituality-based palliative care intervention might be beneficial in improving quality of life and reducing symptoms. (Source: Journal of Religion and Health)
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Spiritual Pain: A Symptom in Search of a Clinical Definition
AbstractWe conducted a literature search to identify and compare definitions of the experiential dimension of spiritual pain. Key databases were searched, up to the year 2021 inclusive, for papers with a definition of “spiritual” or “existential” pain/distress in a clinical setting. Of 144 hits, seven papers provided theoretical definitions/descriptions; none incorporated clinical observations or underlying pathophysiological constructs. Based on these findings, we propose a new definition for “spiritua l pain” as a “self-identified experience of personal discomfort, or actual or potential harm, triggered by ...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Breast Cancer in Two Ex-Votos, A Millennia Apart: Patients' Hope and Faith Expressed Through the Centuries in Votive Offerings
AbstractA votive offering or ex-voto includes a variety of usually non-professional artworks offered to divinities and placed in religious sites to fulfill a vow or in gratitude for recovery from an illness or injury. Unfortunately, the ancient period lacks a scientifically verifiable understanding of the t rue nature of cancer and its natural history and, consequently, a lack of effective treatment. This paper discusses two ex-votos potentially related to breast cancer distant more than 2000 years, one from the other. The ex-votos convey the complex relationship of humans with illness through an art expression stemming...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Initial Development and Validation of a Brief Scale to Measure Genuine Happiness in the USA
AbstractGenuine happiness can be described as an unlimited, everlasting inner joy and peace undisturbed by external circumstances. The current study proposes a Genuine Happiness Scale (GHS) with four items. The sample consisted of 678 US young adults, with 432 completing the online surveys twice, approximately six weeks apart. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence for a unidimensional factor structure of the GHS. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that, after controlling for genuine happiness at baseline, caring for bliss, mindfulness, and compassion predicted genuine happiness approximately...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
“There is a God or There is No God—It is in the Hands of God:” Fatalistic Beliefs Among Israeli People About Cancer and Their Impact on Behavioral Outcomes
AbstractThis qualitative study examined fatalistic beliefs and cancer causal attributions among people without cancer. Participants were 30 Israeli women and men aged 51 –70 from diverse sociocultural backgrounds who participated in four focus groups. Three main themes emerged, referring to the variability in fatalistic beliefs of cancer occurrence and cancer outcome, the duality in attributing causality to divine providence and mere luck or chance, and the connec tion between distinct fatalistic beliefs and health behaviors. Data analysis enabled an expansion of the understanding of cancer fatalism as a multidimensional...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Person-Centered Mindfulness: A Culturally and Spiritually Sensitive Approach to Clinical Practice
AbstractMindfulness meditation is rapidly being integrated into many different forms of counseling and psychotherapy, and there is a growing evidence base for its effectiveness. It is important to understand the spiritual roots of mindfulness, and to apply it in a patient-centered manner, sensitive to the patient ’s own faith tradition rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, assuming that mindfulness-based practice is a purely secular approach. The philosophical underpinning of mindfulness lies squarely in the Buddhist faith tradition. Indeed, mindfulness is the 7th step on the Eightfold Path, whi ch is the hear...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
A Concept Analysis of Spiritual Pain at the End-of-Life in the Iranian-Islamic Context: A Qualitative Hybrid Model
This study aimed to explore the spiritual pain concept in the Iranian-Islamic context using a hybrid research model during 2020–2021. During the first phase, international and Iranian-Islamic literature was systematically searched and reviewed. During the second phase, the researchers referred to oncology wards, palliative care centers, and intensive care units and conducted unstructured interviews wit h 19 dying patients. In the third phase, attributes, and final analysis of spiritual pain was extracted from the first phase, and following the second phase, the definition of spiritual pain was finalized. The result...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
