Faith, prayer and medicine go hand in hand with many physicians in Alabama. However, this sentiment is not shared by a panel of medical researchers and chaplains who authored a controversial article in the June issue of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.
The nine-member panel warned doctors not to provide spiritual treatment for their patients and stated that linking faith and health care is bad for both, and results in bad health care and weak religion.
The panel recommended that doctors should not urge their patients to pray or attend church, and insisted that such suggestions are inappropriate and not supported by hard evidence.
They added they are concerned by the “uncritical embrace” of faith-based health care, a trend that has resulted in books on the topic and medical school courses on the link between faith and wellness.
An example of that trend was seen in May when the National Institute for Health Care Research issued a report suggesting that churchgoers live longer than nonreligious people. That report was based on data from 40 studies done throughout a 30-year period.
The authors of the Journal article dismissed the research, claiming that “broad generalizations are being made on the basis of limited, narrowly focused and methodologically flawed studies of the place of religion in medical practice.”
What do Alabama physicians think about the article’s message?
“I find the opposite to be true,” said Lee Franklin, a radiation oncologist who practices in Montgomery. “People deal better with their illness when they have faith than when they do not. It’s the difference between night and day. The patients that I see are coming to me with a cancer diagnosis. The stronger their faith, the better they cope,” he said.
“The problem I see with these type of researchers is that they try to understand and define the nature of God in scientific terms. The whole concept of faith revolves around knowing and believing without seeing,” said David Wilhelm, a family practice physician in Birmingham who has written three books about the power of faith that he has witnessed in his medical practice. He co-authored his latest book, “Keeping Body and Soul Together,” with his father, Jack, a minister and president of Mars Hill Christian School in Florence.
“I give the medical perspective and my father gives the scriptural aspect. The body and soul are intertwined. We both agree that you can’t separate the physical from the spiritual aspects of healing,” he stated.
Charles Hanes, an obstetrician/ gynecologist practicing in Mobile, said there is no question in his mind that a person’s faith gives them a more positive outlook with dealing with medical situations.
“A patient who has an abiding faith is less fearful of surgery and generally handles it better in all aspects,” he stated, mentioning a patient he took care of 15 years ago. “This lady had a lump in her mouth that her ENT thought might be malignant. I knew she had a strong faith in God and was a ‘praying woman’ so I asked her if she would like for me to pray with her. Not long afterward the mass just went away. She was so excited. As far as I’m concerned this was one of God’s miracles,” he explained.
Physicians vary in their approach to patients in regard to spiritual issues and prayer.
“I didn’t pray with my patients on a routine basis but when I was asked I didn’t hesitate to do so,” said Carey Gwin, a retired physician who practiced family medicine for more than 30 years in Jasper. “I considered it a privilege to pray with them,” he emphasized.
“I’ve taught Sunday School for 36 years and many of my patients knew I was a Christian. I never tried to evangelize to a patient during an office visit as I didn’t think that setting was appropriate. I’ve prayed with many a patient to have God lead and guide them through their illness,” said Gwin, a member of First Baptist Church, Jasper.
Hanes professed, “I don’t hesitate if I sense one of my patients or a family member wants to pray. I try to be open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The ones I have prayed with have always been appreciative.”
Birmingham obstetrician/ gynecologist Jeff Gunnells has strong feelings about sharing his faith with patients.
“To say that I shouldn’t utilize my faith in my profession just doesn’t make sense to me,” he said in response to the medical journal article. “I don’t force my beliefs on my patients, but I share my faith openly through compassion and concern. I pray routinely with them, especially after the delivery of a baby, thanking God for the new life He has blessed the couple with.”
And adding his opinion about the message of the article, Wilhelm concluded, “Those people are entitled to their opinion but to suggest that I should not do something that is beneficial to my patients — well, that’s advice I’ll have to ignore.”
Health care moves toward spiritual awareness
Although Jesus illustrated the point time and again, the medical profession is just now acknowledging the impact that ministering to the spiritual and physical needs of patients can have in the recovery process.
Until recently medical and nursing schools left the spiritual side of patient care up to churches, clergy and the individual — taking the position of neutrality and personal choice in matters pertaining to religious conviction.
A growing trend in the reversal of this policy is taking root in medical institutions across the nation. Fifty medical schools have included courses on religion, spirituality and health in their curricula, according to the National Institute for Healthcare Research in Rockville, Md. Since 1995 this nonprofit organizations has awarded 19 grants worth $25,000 each to help schools establish spirituality courses, and according to spokesman Dan Kauffman, “interest is continuing to grow.”
Baptist Memorial Health Care in Memphis, in conjunction with the University of Tennessee, offers a course geared to educate health care professionals in training about spirituality in medicine. The course, “Awareness of Spirituality in the Treatment of Patients,” was developed by the Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation Pastoral Care department and was made possible by a grant from the Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation.
“The course is designed to have a positive impact on the medical environment as it will enable health care professionals in training to gain knowledge in an area that is critically important to the overall care of patients,” said David Drumel, vice president for pastoral care.
“It also serves as a means whereby health care professionals in training who have a personal religious commitment can interact with an intellectually and clinically grounded curriculum enabling them to integrate their faith with their scientific knowledge and professional role in a way that enhances a patient’s well-being,” he said.
The course was developed after studies revealed that not only does a patient’s faith directly impact his or her positive health outcome, but many patients desire religion to be a part of their clinical care.
“With the influence of religious beliefs on medical care, physicians need to be educated as to when and how to assess patients’ religious beliefs and how to help patients incorporate their faith in their medical care,” Drumel said.
Recently the University of Mobile’s School of Nursing held a one day continuing education workshop for nurses in the area and the attendees encouraged the faculty to make it a permanent course.
The workshop focused on how to identify a patient’s spiritual needs and what role a nurse can play in helping to meet those needs.
“In our nursing curriculum we teach our students that they are dealing with a biological, psychological, social and spiritual being. If they miss caring for any aspect of that person they are not giving their patient complete care,” said Rosemary Adams, dean of the School of Nursing. “In all of our nursing courses we teach some objective that relates to the spiritual care of patients,” she added.
For the past five years Samford University has been offering a course that was initially offered as an elective.
“The course, ‘Cultural and Spiritual Aspects of Nursing Practice’ was so well received by the students that they recommended we make it a requirement,” said the School of Nursing’s dean, Marian Baur.
According to the curriculum description: The focus of the course is to provide a cultural/spiritual foundation for professional nursing practice.
The influence of the nurse’s background on client care is explored through self-assessment.
“The spiritual needs of patients and the role of the nursing professional has always been an important part of our curriculum,” she concluded.
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