Exploring the acceptance of religious assistance among patients of a psychiatric hospital.
BACKGROUND
Spiritual issues are rarely addressed by psychiatric institutions in daily routine practice.


OBJECTIVE
To report the prevalence of, and factors associated with, inpatients' acceptance of religious assistance in a psychiatric hospital.


METHODS
All patients evaluated by the religious assistance service in a psychiatric hospital were included. Patients admitted were asked about their need for religious assistance and were assessed on several religious aspects. Additional information was collected from patients' hospital charts. A comparison between those who accepted the religious assistance and those who did not was performed.


RESULTS
Most of the 213 patients evaluated requested religious assistance (85.0%), including those that reported having no religion (79.1%). Patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (p = .010) and lower intrinsic religiousness (p = .002) tended to request less religious assistance. More than 80% of patients requested assistance based on religious traditions other than their own.


CONCLUSIONS
Most psychiatric inpatients were willing to participate in religious assistance sessions, even those without formal religious affiliations. Patients with lower intrinsic religiosity and schizophrenia tended to request less assistance. We believe the findings of this study can serve to foster discussion on whether psychiatric hospitals should provide a structured religious care service.
João Evangelista Hospital, São Paulo, Brazil. g.lucchetti@yahoo.com.br
Giancarlo
G
Lucchetti
Camilla C
CC
Braguetta
Candido
C
Vallada
Homero
H
Vallada
D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires