Foundations of Spirituality in Health Care

Foundations of Spirituality in Health Care
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Foundations of spirituality in healthcare
There is no doubt that contemporary medication has positively influenced the lifestyle of human kind. Nevertheless, we should realize that medication only covers the aspect of cure and not the environment through which one can heal. When one is cured then one does no longer suffer from the disease whereas, when one is healed they have a peace of mind. The environment within which a patient operates plays a significant role in the control of the disease. A healing hospital environment puts in place a framework that aims to give the patients a peaceful and a comforting environment as well as reducing the stress that the patients undergo. A healing hospital environment also puts strategies in place that aims to support the families of the patients as well as the friends who take care of the patients (Kliewer, 2006). The healing hospital environment also puts in place complementary therapies including massages, healing touches, creative therapies and aromatherapies. For those who have become of age, the hospitals may introduce the concept of pet therapy. Over and above, a hospital healing environment presents the patients with a loving environment that takes their mind away from the diseases they are suffering from.
Spirituality refers to the act of an individual doing everything possible so as to maintain a sacred life and to live under the shadow of God. Overtime, researchers have been trying to establish the relationship between spirituality and healthcare. Sure enough, they have found out that spirituality can act as the missing puzzle when it comes to extremely delicate situations. In healthcare, spirituality integrates between three different issues: mortality, coping as well as recovery. In terms of mortality, it has been established that those patients who habitually take part in spiritual activities, live for a longer duration compared to those who do not take part in spirituality. In addition, it has been established that the old people who take part in spiritual activities have a reduced frequency of being stressed (Craige, 2010). This is because of the fact that their taking part in spiritual activities reduces the Interleukin 6 production, hence reducing the chances of them being stressed.
In terms of coping, it has been established that those patients who tend to be inclined towards spirituality, tend to find a way of coping with the particular illness that they are suffering from. Similarly, they manage to get hold of the pain they go through as well as the possible level of stress that they might perceive. Though debatable, it has been established that they stay ahead of things majorly due to their spiritual beliefs. A research carried out among the cancer patients to confirm this proved that those of them who had soft spots for Spirituality lived with hope irrespective of their serious health conditio...