Conceptualising spirituality and religion for healthcare.
OBJECTIVE
To discuss some of the challenges of conceptualising spirituality and religion for healthcare practice.


BACKGROUND
With the growing interest in spirituality in healthcare, has come the inevitable task of trying to conceptualise spirituality, a daunting task given the amorphous nature of spirituality, the changing understandings of spirituality among individuals and the diverse globalised society within which this task is taking place. Spirituality's relationship to religion is a particularly challenging point of debate.


METHODS
Critical review.


CONCLUSIONS
Three social and historical conditions - located in the context of Western thought - have contributed to current conceptualisations of spirituality and religion: the diminishment of the social authority of religion as a result of the Enlightenment focus on reason, the rise of a postmodern spirituality emphasising spiritual experience and current tensions over the ideological and political roles of religion in society. The trend to minimise the social influence of religion is a particular Western bias that seems to ignore the global megatrend of the resurgence of religion. Current conceptualisations are critiqued on the following grounds: that they tend to be ungrounded from a rich history of theological and philosophical thought, that a particular form of elitist spirituality is emerging and that the individualistic emphasis in recent conceptualisations of spirituality diminishes the potential for societal critique and transformation while opening the door for economic and political self interest.


CONCLUSIONS
Constructing adequate conceptualisations of spirituality and religion for clinical practice entails grounding them in the wealth of centuries of philosophical and theological thinking, ensuring that they represent the diverse society that nursing serves and anchoring them within a moral view of practice.
Pesut
Barbara
B
School of Nursing, UBC Okanagan, Kelowna, BC, Canada. barb.pesut@ubc.ca
Fowler
Marsha
M
Taylor
Elizabeth J
EJ
Reimer-Kirkham
Sheryl
S
Sawatzky
Richard
R
D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D006801:Humans; D029181:Spirituality