Health And Religion

It is of significance to society religion and spirituality positively affect health. First, the positive relationship between religion and health has clinical implications such as education or awareness and implementation. Since a significant portion of the world’s population practices religion or spirituality, many medical patients will recognize its importance in coping. Lee and Newberg (2005) stated that “health-care providers should be aware of how religious involvement can affect symptoms, quality of life, and patients’ willingness to receive treatment” (p. 459). To establish this awareness, educators could integrate religious and spiritual topics into psychiatric training (Baetz & Toews, 2009). Effective communication is also an essential

For example, researchers have struggled to adequately define religion and spirituality. Lee and Newberg (2005) stated that finding formal, universal definitions for these terms has been difficult. Researchers also struggle to ascertain which practices belong to religion, which to spirituality, and which to neither (Lee & Newberg, 2005). Cragen et al. (2016) also discussed this problem, stating that there are many conceptions of religion and spirituality; however, without an explicit definition, accurately measuring these terms is difficult. They further discussed that some studies have simply compared active religious individuals to less active religious individuals, or have included measures of spirituality that do not necessitate a belief in the supernatural (Cragun et al., 2016). When researchers use measures incorrectly or do not define terms specifically, the results of a study can be

Cragun et al. (2016) argued that social conditions could portray a false relationship between religion and health. Religious individuals are often among the privileged in society, and therefore have access to symbolic and material resources that benefit health (Cragun et al., 2016). Social location is often association with health, with the privileged receiving health benefits, while the disadvantaged experience marginalization, discrimination, and therefore physical and mental detriment (Cragun et al., 2016). Therefore, the relationship between religion and health may be more complex than initially stated. Additionally, religion does not necessarily produce the mechanisms argued to be improving health. For example, many of the healthy behaviours engaged in by religious individuals have little connection to religion and could be encouraged by other social groups (Cragun et al., 2016). Similarly, one can acquire social support and purpose or meaning from non-religious individuals, organizations, and avenues (Cragun et al., 2016). Although much research declares that religion causes positive health outcomes, one can argue that individuals can acquire similar supports and health benefits from secular