Spirituality and Wellness in Medicine: An Ethical Task

When a patient comes to the hospital and they are sick, they can't understand why they get sick. When patients are, sick faith comes stronger and sometimes can improve health profile, may reduce healthcare utilization and sometimes makes them better. Religion mostly expresses the inner spiritual beliefs. Religion can be an organizing group of individuals and there are more than fifty common religions that influence our culture. Some physicians think they are obligated to present all the options to their patients including the spiritual one but 70% of the physicians think that another physician will do that for them. For sure physicians can improve the time management in having some time for the patient. We need, as a physician, more education and training towards the wellness of the patient that includes spirituality. We as physicians need to gain experience, training, and good communication skills to overcome barriers in wellness and spirituality. We need a team in a hospital, which can utilize community resources and treat the whole person and not just the disease of the person. Assessment of individual spirituality and religion resource of each patient can help in the care of the patient itself. All together, we need to find a peaceful balance between meditation, healthcare, and concept of spirituality, lifestyle, recreation, energy, and wellness.