April 05, 2004
By: Jackie Rosen
Website: http://www.1st-in-wellness.com
Doctors believe that spirituality is good for your health
In the midst of woes resulting from cutbacks in health care, spiritual healing may be one of the few
bright lights for distressed patients and doctors. Research has shown that faith provides the only lowtech,
low-cost healing, which is universally accessible.
More and more doctors now believe that spirituality and faith play a positive role in health because of
accumulating medical evidence.
Harold Koenig, MD, Duke University Medical Center, a leading authority on religion and medicine,
will give the distinguished Templeton Foundation public address, on the linkage
between these two oldest disciplines of health care.
Dr. Koenig will present the clinical applications and medical evidence of the health benefits of
religious faith and practices. These benefits include longer life, better overall well-being, better
recovery from surgery, better ability to cope with life-threatening diseases and lowered depression and
anxiety.
Dr. Koenig’s talk will be a part of a Course on Spirituality and Healing, funded by the John
Templeton Foundation. This course will take place at the Vancouver Airport Conference Centre in conjunction with the International Meaning Conference.
This course is modeled after the well known Course on Spiritual and Healing offered by Harvard
Medical School and will be taught by some of the same faculty, said Dr. Paul Wong, organizer of the
Canadian counterpart and President of the International Network on Personal Meaning.
Christina Puchalski, MD, Director of the George Washington University Institute of Spirituality and
Health, will speak on the role of spirituality in health care. She will introduce the practice of
compassionate care, which includes taking spiritual history and helping patients find meaning in their
suffering.
According to Dr. Puchalski, more than half of all medical schools in the U.S. have a course on
spirituality and medicine. She also observes that doctors are attending conferences on faith and
healing in increasing numbers, because they realize that they cannot establish a bond of trust with their
patients, nor can they fulfill their own calling, if they only treat physical symptoms, without any
regard for their patients’ spiritual needs.
The Course is also taught by many other distinguished faculty, who will cover a variety of topics such
as the spiritual passages of successful aging, hardiness and religiosity, coping with disabilities and
cancer, and more.
It offers a unique opportunity for doctors, nurses, occupation therapists, counsellors and hospice
workers to learn the power and practice of spiritual healing in medicine.
About
The Author:
Jackie Rosen is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-wellness.com.
Obtaining and keeping good health through healthy living, natural healing, great mental health and healthy finances.
