Spirituality As A Determinant Of Health: Emerging Policies, Practices, And Systems

Health Affairs June 1, 2024
Katelyn N. G. Long, Xavier Symons, Tyler J. VanderWeele, Tracy A. Balboni, David H. Rosmarin, Christina Puchalski, Teresa Cutts, Gary R. Gunderson, Ellen Idler, Doug Oman, Michael J. Balboni, Laura S. Tuach, Howard K. Koh

Abstract

Reimagining public health’s future should include explicitly considering spirituality as a social determinant of health that is linked to human goods and is deeply valued by people and their communities. Spirituality includes a sense of ultimate meaning, purpose, transcendence, and connectedness. With that end in mind, we assessed how recommendations recently issued by an expert panel for integrating spiritual factors into public health and medicine are being adopted in current practice in the United States. These recommendations emerged from a systematic review of empirical evidence on spirituality, serious illness, and population health published between 2000 and 2022. For each recommendation, we reviewed current federal, state, and local policies and practices recognizing spiritual factors, and we considered the ways in...

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