title: Spiritual Themes and Challenges in Global Health.
abstract: Although the importance of spirituality is increasingly recognized in clinical medicine, spirituality is rarely mentioned in the practice, literature, or training programs of global health. To understand the role of spirituality in global health practice and identify factors that influence and limit its expression, I initiated conversations and informal interviews with more than 300 global health leaders, students, and practitioners during 2010-2014. Four spiritual themes or challenges emerged: compassion at a distance; dichotomous thinking; conspiracy of silence; and compulsion to save the world. Practitioners expressed strong interest in bringing spirituality more fully into global health discourse, which could help the field realize its potential.
authors.affiliation: Center for Compassion and Global Health, 1120 Clifton Rd, NE, Atlanta, GA, 30307, USA. dgaddiss@gmail.com.|Task Force for Global Health, 325 Swanton Way, Decatur, Georgia, 30030, USA. dgaddiss@gmail.com.
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Addiss
mesh_terms: D004645:Empathy; D014943:Global Health; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D011634:Public Health; D036301:Qualitative Research; D029181:Spirituality
keywords: compassion; global health; public health; spirituality