Restoring the spiritual: reflections on arrogance and myopia-allopathic and holistic.
Over the past two decades, researchers have successfully accumulated lots of data pointing to a salutary impact of religious involvement. But progress in the religion and health field has been inhibited by the relative lack of attention to important conceptual and theoretical issues. This paper asserts that until we focus as much on the latter as on the former, this field will remain marginalized and thus ineffective in contributing to understandings of the determinants of health and healing. Careful attention to the how and why of a religion-health connection is imperative for bringing this research into the mainstream of biomedicine.
Levin
Jeff
J
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA. levin@hughes.net
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D006694:Holistic Health; D006801:Humans; D008602:Mental Healing / Q000523:psychology; D019222:Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012106:Research; D012803:Sick Role; D026443:Spiritual Therapies; D029181:Spirituality