Religion in primary care: Let’s talk about it

John Guilfoyle; Natalie St Pierre-Hansen

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It doesn't matter if you are religious.
John B. Hoehn

Published on: 19 April 2012
Re:Re: Religion in Primary Care
Francis John Guilfoyle

Published on: 26 March 2012
I go to my minister not to my doctor to pray!
Roya Firouzabadi

Published on: 26 March 2012
Re: Religion in Primary Care
John de Couto

Published on: 21 March 2012

Published on: (19 April 2012)
Page navigation anchor for It doesn't matter if you are religious.
It doesn't matter if you are religious.
John B. Hoehn, Family Physician
You don't have to be an infant to care for infants, you don't have to be a male to treat prostatitis, and you don't have to be religious to treat diseases of the soul. A majority of our patients have moral and religious concerns in their lives. Serious illness often challenges the adequacy of a strictly materialistic view of life. For physicians interested in being more than tablet-dispensers, this is not an issue of promotin...
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You don't have to be an infant to care for infants, you don't have to be a male to treat prostatitis, and you don't have to be religious to treat diseases of the soul. A majority of our patients have moral and religious concerns in their lives. Serious illness often challenges the adequacy of a strictly materialistic view of life. For physicians interested in being more than tablet-dispensers, this is not an issue of promoting our own religious ideas, but of being open to the resources our patients have during difficult times. I find that giving permission for my patient to ask for spiritual care, lets the patient know I am not dismissive of their spirituality. This is done in two places on my new patient intake sheet that all physicians could add to patient forms. 1.) In demographics there is a blank for religious affiliation. 2.) The formal ROS can include these Yes/ No screening questions: Are you unhappy or dissatisfied with your life? Do you have financial problems that worry you? Are there problems with your job or workplace? Do you every feel threatened, in danger, or unsafe? Do you have spiritual or religious worries and concerns? I close my intake sheet with a box to-- List the most important things you wish to discuss with Dr. Hoehn today:. If you are personally comfortable with praying you can add a second open box offering-- I would like to have Dr. Hoehn pray with me about: . Non-religious patients don't take umbrage with this offer. A few patients value this spiritual resource highly and ask for a prayer at many of their visits. Which can be a refreshing pause from the daily menu of hypertension, dysuria, and joint pains! Non-believing physicians can meet requests for spiritual care with humanistic sympathy and the magic, "Tell me about this..." This can lead to a referral to spiritual counselors for problems requiring more than sympathy. A request for prayer becomes positive for both patient and provider when answered with the non-condemnatory permission, "I'm not very good at praying, but would you like to pray for us both?" John B. Hoehn, M.D. CCFP (Canada)
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.
Published on: (26 March 2012)
Page navigation anchor for Re:Re: Religion in Primary Care
Re:Re: Religion in Primary Care
Francis John Guilfoyle
Dear Dr. Decouto, Thank you for your kind comments. You have grasped the essence of what I was hoping to communicate. Hopefully, religion can continue to contribute to our well being and that of our patients. Best wishes John
Conflict of Interest:
None declared

Competing Interests: None declared.
Published on: (26 March 2012)
Page navigation anchor for I go to my minister not to my doctor to pray!
I go to my minister not to my doctor to pray!
Roya Firouzabadi, Physician
As soon as I saw the title, my secular mind started to review all the events, disasters and atrocities which human history owes to bringing religion to all the aspects of our lives. Please, not here, not in medicine.you have the churches and mosques,synagogues and temples,politics and governments. We came a long way from religious healers to medical doctors, from astrology to astronomy , from alchemy to chemistry , millen...
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As soon as I saw the title, my secular mind started to review all the events, disasters and atrocities which human history owes to bringing religion to all the aspects of our lives. Please, not here, not in medicine.you have the churches and mosques,synagogues and temples,politics and governments. We came a long way from religious healers to medical doctors, from astrology to astronomy , from alchemy to chemistry , millennia and centuries long. It will be a disastrous regress for us to instead of critical thinking, applying the medical knowledge and spending time on what we really should be concern about, to give our precious time , going on our knees and take our patients hands and pray for their recovery.
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.
Published on: (21 March 2012)
Page navigation anchor for Re: Religion in Primary Care
Re: Religion in Primary Care
John de Couto, MD
Re: Religion in Primary Care (John Guilfoyle, Natalie St. Pierre- Hansen; March issue 2012: 58, 249-251 ( Thus this may be printed in the "Letters" section of the Journal to follow ). I really enjoyed the article bringing up the issue of religiosity in primary care, an area I am particularly interested in. I agree this is an area that remains neglected due to the many reasons cited, especially the negative connotations...
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Re: Religion in Primary Care (John Guilfoyle, Natalie St. Pierre- Hansen; March issue 2012: 58, 249-251 ( Thus this may be printed in the "Letters" section of the Journal to follow ). I really enjoyed the article bringing up the issue of religiosity in primary care, an area I am particularly interested in. I agree this is an area that remains neglected due to the many reasons cited, especially the negative connotations that quickly come into the conversation with patients if there is any element of proselytizing. I myself remain committed to exploring the realm of spirituality in my personal life such that when I do have the occasion to bring up "spirituality" and related inquiry, there is really a neutral ground one can readily achieve if approached with reverent curiosity in this very important realm of existence for any person so inclined. I even use a spirituality score (out of ten) to ask how a patient might be coping, and allows me to discuss spiritual strategies with those trials one inevitably needs to meet. With the proper accepted connection with a patient, there is then a much easier sense of comfort possible when meeting challenges that see m insurmountable by conventional, modern medical means. One does not expect to spend lengthy periods over this aspect, but leaves open to the patient further discussion and possible support from this angle. Interesting that in doing this, one really gains comfort oneself, as well as extending such comfort to the patient, a truly two-way street.
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.