Evidence shows aiding patients' spiritual needs improves their health, but few doctors address them.
Long before the world had licensed physicians, it had healers. Finding meaning or connecting to a higher power was an essential part of getting well, or facing the reality that full health might not be possible.
Authors wrote in JAMA that as the population ages, neglect of the spiritual side is a missed opportunity to improve care and achieve better results at a population level. Tyler J. VanderWeele, PhD; Tracy A. Balboni, MD, MPH; and Howard K. Koh, MD, MPH, cited both opinion polls and recent evidence to show that the patients want more attention paid to their spiritual needs, and that the healthcare system would be wise to acknowledge: when patients pray, they heal.
For cancer patients, whose ranks will grow in the years ahead, evidence shows that supporting spiritual needs increases the odds of transitioning to hospice care. A highly cited study of palliative, published in the New England of Medicine, produced survival benefits so profound that if they involved a drug, it would be blockbuster.
But the JAMA authors wrote that even though many patients are interested in spiritual care, few receive it. While 80% of medical schools offer training in spiritual care, it is typically an elective, and young doctors are not required to receiving training. The disconnect is real: the authors cited a study that found a connection with God was the second-most important factor for cancer patients in their care, and perceived as the least important care factor among their doctors and nurses.
Beyond these disconnects, the authors noted that most research in the United States assumes patients are Christian, and more work is needed to reflect the growing diversity of faiths among those seeking care.
“More attention to such spiritual matters could bring medicine closer to the World Health Organization’s longstanding definition of health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,’” the authors wrote.
Reference
VanderWeele TJ, Balbeni TA, Koh HK. Health and spirituality [published online July 27, 2017.] JAMA. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.8136.
Exploring Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Variations
March 26th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the March 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on variations in prior authorization use across Medicare Advantage plans.
Listen
Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
Listen
Homelessness Compounds Hospital Stay Challenges: Study Reveals Prolonged Discharge Struggles
March 28th 2024In this investigation, outcomes of interest were morbidity rate and length of hospital stay or a traumatic injury among a homeless population, and whether age and/or injury severity had an influence on that relationship—with implications for improving the discharge process for these patients.
Read More
FDA Approves Vadadustat for Anemia in Patients With CKD Undergoing Dialysis
March 28th 2024The FDA approved vadadustat (Vafseo), an oral medication, to treat anemia in adult patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on dialysis for at least 3 months. This fills a need for a new treatment option as anemia is common in these patients and can significantly impact their quality of life.
Read More