Spirituality and Health in Our Federal Government

Dale Fletcher 11/15/221:36 PM

Over the last few decades, I’ve been dismayed that our federal government’s health-related initiatives and websites do not include spirituality in their frameworks for health and wellbeing. Consequently, the spiritual dimension of health is not recommended as a resource to improve individual health and wellbeing and the nation’s public health.

By not recognizing the spiritual component of the wellbeing of individuals, our federal government is contributing to the spiritual demise of our citizens. This impacts negatively on not only all aspects of personal wellbeing, but on the public health of our nation and its related plaguing social issues such as poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, unemployment, crime, violence, and suicide.

I believe that one's personal faith/spirituality is the most important factor that contributes to their wellbeing!

I've written a previous blog post here on PACES CONNECTION on The Connection Between ACES and Mass Shootings and what impact that poor spiritual health has on these shooters.

The people of the United States need to be encouraged to make matters of faith and spirituality a facet of their personal health.

On that note, I have written a comprehensive blog post - in a white paper format - that addresses this issue.

The post provides a rationale for our federal agencies to include the spiritual dimension of health within their frameworks and on their websites. It also provides specific recommendations that these agencies should address. Finally, the post offers ways in which you and others can make a difference on this matter.

I especially encourage you to participate in the current Open Comment Period regarding the Healthy People 2030 initiative that I mention in the post. (This period ends December 2, 2022.)

Also, please consider sharing this initiative with your colleagues and others in your network. Perhaps write a special communications/newsletter/blog post on this topic with a link to the blog post.

I invite you to prayerfully read the blog post and do what you can to support this important issue as I believe that a group of resolved people can cause a change to occur.

Read the post here to learn more -- Spirituality and Health in Our Federal Government

Be well.

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Andrea D Clements, PhDMember

I agree wholeheartedly. Last year some colleagues and I published an article that tried to point out some of the disconnect among the faith community, healthcare community, and scientific community. We suggested ways to address that. Here is the reference:

Clements, A. D., Cyphers, N., Whittaker, D. L., Hamilton, B., & McCarty, B. (2021). Using trauma informed principles in health communication: Improving faith/science/clinical collaboration to address addiction. Frontiers in Psychology: Health Psychology, 12, Article 781484 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.781484

A couple of things that you may want to add are:

There is also the "Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative" at Duke. I was trained by Harold Koenig back in 2008, but since have done lots of research and training collaboration with TMC. Also, there is some light in the CDC. I've been a consultant as they develop materials for the faith community regarding Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). We had a multi-faith group that has worked on a training for the past couple of years. I believe it is close to launch if it hasn't launched already.

The news is not nearly so good in the area of research funding. Have you seen the recent Crystal Park et al. article calling out funders for the underfunding of research in this area as well? Here are the citation and abstract:
Park, George, J. R., Saya Awao, Carney, L. M., Batt, S., & Salsman, J. M. (2022). U.S. Federal Investment in Religiousness/Spirituality and Health Research: A Systematic Review. Religions (Basel, Switzerland ), 13(8), 725–. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13080725

Abstract: Objectives: Although robust associations between aspects of religiousness/spirituality (R/S) and physical health have been established, little systematic information is available about federal funding support for this area of research. To address this question, we conducted a comprehensive systematic review and analysis. Study Design: Systematic review. Methods: We used the information provided by the Federal RePORTER and searched from earliest date through the end of 2018. Abstracts were included if they were an empirical study and included both a religion/spirituality variable and a health variable. Results: Our search yielded 194 grants reflecting over USD 214 million in research expenditures, with the vast majority (85%) funded by the NIH. Most common were community-based observational studies with healthy populations (70%). Nearly three-quarters (73%) of studies specifying age focused on adults, but children and adolescents were also well represented in these projects. The proportion of studies focused on racial/ethnic minorities (47%) was disproportionate to their representation in the U.S. population, which could reflect either heightened efforts to address health disparities or a view that R/S is primarily or mostly relevant to minority groups. Less than half of funded studies (41%) considered religion a central focus and publications for R/S-focused studies were less common than for non-R/S-focused studies (M = 7.0 to M = 13.3, respectively, p = 0.06). Overall funding levels appear to be declining in more recent years, although this trend was not statistically significant (p = 0.52). Many abstracts did not provide adequate details for coding. Conclusions: Overall, the present review suggests that U.S. federal funding for research on R/S and health is substantial, but most of this has only peripherally considered R/S and has yielded modest return on investment. Promising future directions include a continued focus on racial and ethnic minority populations as well as in emerging areas such as religious gratitude and compassion along with well-designed intervention trials.

I also run a nonprofit aimed at equipping the faith community to address addiction (Uplift Appalachia). We are trying to use what the science supports.