RT Book, Section
A1 Jenkins, David R.
A2 Duffy, James D.
A2 Valentine, Alan D.
SR Print(0)
ID 1125786049
T1 Spirituality and Religion Perspectives on Illness and Suffering
T2 MD Anderson Manual of Psychosocial Oncology
YR 2016
FD 2016
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071624381
LK hemonc.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1125786049
RD 2024/04/20
AB In  recent  years,  there  has  been  an  accumulation  of  empirical  evidence  demonstrating  the  positive  role  of  religious  practice  and  spirituality  on  mental  health  and  quality  of  life  (QOL)  pertaining  to  coping  with  chronic  disease.  In  this  case,  QOL  generally  refers  to  "…  those  aspects  of  life  and  human  function  considered  essential  for  living  fully."1  Attention  to  holistic  patient  care,  or  "whole  patient  care,"  is  now  accepted  as  the  best  practice  within  medical  care.  In  addition,  the  interdisciplinary  approach  to  health  care  has  a  strong  advocate  in  the  Joint  Commission  on  Accreditation  of  Healthcare  (JCAHO),  which  acknowledged  in  2003  that  "…patients'  psychosocial,  spiritual,  and  cultural  values  affect  how  they  respond  to  their  care."2  Nevertheless,  recipients  of  health  care  in  the  USA  report  dissatisfaction  with  the  lack  of  spiritually  sensitive  care.3  This  chapter  delineates  the  influences  that  family  and  culture  play  in  the  patient's  religious  development  and  spiritual  coping  with  illness  and  suffering.  For  the  purpose  of  this  discussion,  "family"  is  defined  as  "…  any  group  of  people  who  are  related  biologically,  legally,  or  emotionally."4  Like  Seaburn,  I  assume  that  all  families  exist  within  a  cultural  web  or  context  that  must  be  taken  into  consideration  when  trying  to  understand  the  decision-making  process  in  which  they  are  engaged.  To  continue  Seaburn's  thought:  "Each  family  may  be  influenced  by  its  own  history  with  illness,  its  health  beliefs,  its  religious  tradition(s),  its  racial  background,  its  nation  of  origin,  and  other  vital  factors  that  contribute  to  how  families  define  themselves  and  make  meaning  of  their  experiences."  The  term  "culture"  is  defined  as  "…  the  sum  of  the  integrated  patterns  of  knowledge,  beliefs,  and  behaviors  of  a  given  community."5  Furthermore,  it  can  be  asserted  that  culture  "…  mediates  the  rapport  between  the  individual  and  the  outer  world,  and  it  contributes  to  a  person's  identity."6  It  can  also  be  argued  that  "family"  is  one  form  or  context  that  fits  the  definition  for  culture.  The  family  nexus  functions  as  the  most  intimate  relational  form  of  culture,  and  thus  plays  a  primary  role  in  the  development  of  personhood.  Thus,  the  starting  point  for  understanding  how  to  alleviate  suffering  in  the  context  of  illness,  taking  into  account  the  impact  of  family  and  culture  on  the  life  of  the  patient,  is  to  have  a  basic  grasp  of  personhood  and  the  nature  of  suffering.