Thomas G Plante, David B Feldman, Jacqueline Ge, Anthony Cortese
{"title":"A Randomized Controlled Trial Assessing the Psychological Benefits of a Daily Examen-Based Practice.","authors":"Thomas G Plante, David B Feldman, Jacqueline Ge, Anthony Cortese","doi":"10.1007/s10943-025-02259-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-025-02259-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This is a randomized controlled trial of an Examen-based practice, an intervention reflecting a five-step daily reflection and prayer practice developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Catholic Jesuit order. Like other practices (e.g., mindfulness, yoga), this practice can be used as a spiritual or secular intervention to help people with a variety of challenges and stressors. In this exploratory study, 57 university students were randomly assigned to a two-week daily Examen-based condition, while 58 students were assigned to a wait-list control condition. Questionnaires measuring hope, life meaning, satisfaction with life, mindfulness, compassion, stress, anxiety, and depression were administered pre- and post-intervention and subsequently at two-week follow-up. Significant differences were found for conditions on the measures of life meaning, satisfaction with life, and hope, suggesting that the Examen-based practice produces improvements in individuals' global evaluations of their lives as well as their perceptions of the future. Suggestions for further research are offered.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143042301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Israel Bekele Molla, Virginia Hagger, Mette Juel Rothmann, Bodil Rasmussen
{"title":"The Role of Community Organisation, Religion, Spirituality and Cultural Beliefs on Diabetes Social Support and Self-Management in Sub-Saharan Africa: Integrative Literature Review.","authors":"Israel Bekele Molla, Virginia Hagger, Mette Juel Rothmann, Bodil Rasmussen","doi":"10.1007/s10943-024-02233-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-024-02233-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To examine the evidence for the role of community organisations, religion, spirituality, cultural beliefs, and social support in diabetes self-management, we undertook an integrative literature review utilising MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, CINAHL, and grey literature databases. The selected articles were appraised for quality, and the extracted data were analysed thematically. The search yielded 1586 articles, and after eliminating duplicates, 1434 titles and abstracts were screened, followed by a full-text review of 103 articles. Ultimately, 47 articles met the inclusion criteria for the review, utilising various study designs, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, and nonrandomised clinical trials. These findings indicate that spirituality and religiosity can positively affect diabetes self-management by providing motivation, coping skills, social support, and guidance for healthy behaviours. A strong social support system enhances diabetes self-management and glycaemic control for individuals with diabetes. However, some aspects of religion and culture, such as beliefs about medications, may also pose challenges or barriers to diabetes self-management. Adherence to medication, food choices, physical activity, and the use of complementary or alternative medicine can be influenced by sociocultural factors. Additionally, cultural beliefs and social norms influence understanding diabetes aetiology, management, and symptom reactions. The findings highlight that it is crucial to understand the cultural, religious, or spiritual influences that can either assist or impede self-management habits in individuals with diabetes and could inform interventions that support personalised and effective care.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143034357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lindsay B Carey, Jeffery Cohen, Ezra Gabbay, Carl Aiken, Harold G Koenig, Terrence Hill, Piret Paal, David Drummond, Jacinda R Carey
{"title":"Judaism, Women's Health and COVID-19.","authors":"Lindsay B Carey, Jeffery Cohen, Ezra Gabbay, Carl Aiken, Harold G Koenig, Terrence Hill, Piret Paal, David Drummond, Jacinda R Carey","doi":"10.1007/s10943-024-02248-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-024-02248-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This issue commences with a review of the top 100 most cited papers in the Journal of Religion and Health. This is followed by Part 2 of a series examining Judaism and health related research, which is subsequently followed by an extensive collection of research specifically connected to women's health. Finally, research continues to present the unique and ongoing effects of COVID-19.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143025371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Religious Coping in Parents of Children with Down Syndrome: A Systematic Review of the Literature.","authors":"Hüseyin Çaksen","doi":"10.1007/s10943-024-02207-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-024-02207-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Having a child with Down syndrome (DS) is stressful for families. Social, physical, economic and emotional difficulties are the most challenging stressors for parents of children with DS. Therefore, parents who have children with DS have used various types of coping strategies. This systematic review investigates religious coping in parents of children with DS to synthesize what is known of the literature regarding religious coping among parents of children with DS. Pubmed and Scopus databases were searched with no restriction on language and the year of publication. Additionally, manual searches of the retrieved articles' references were performed. Forty-four original studies published between 2000 and 2023 were included in the review. No study on the subject was found in either Pubmed or Scopus before 2000. Most studies were conducted in USA 7 (15.9%), Egypt 7 (15.9%), and Türkiye 6 (13.6%). In the studies, the total number of participants was 4266, range between 8 and 530 (median 55.5). The ethnic origins of the participants were very diverse and the studies included participants from many cultures around the world. Based on the studies, we identified seven themes that represented the main stressors encountered by parents/caregivers of children with DS: \"information deficits,\" \"child caregiving burdens,\" \"familial difficulties,\" \"financial difficulties,\" \"challenges related to social and professional support,\" \"society's misconceptions,\" and \"worries about the future.\" The most commonly (n = 12, [27.2%]) used coping scale was coping orientation to problems experienced. Religious coping was the coping strategy most frequently used by participants in 36 (81.8%) studies. Religion, spirituality, and belief in Allah (God) were of central importance for most participants in most of the studies. Most parents reported that belief in Allah (God) encouraged them to accept the diagnosis of DS and feel better and become stronger; provided improvements in the lives of families and the necessary resources to face their difficulties; played a fundamental role in adaptation with the conditions of their children with DS; brought them peace of mind and a sense of hope; and motivated them to keep on moving forward. In conclusion, religion plays an important role in the lives of most parents of children with DS. Religious coping has been used by parents of children with DS in many cultures around the world, regardless of religion, race, or ethnicity. Belief in Allah (God), belief in fate and belief in the afterlife, provided physical, mental and psychosocial relief for most parents of children with DS.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143025385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
SangNam Ahn, Joonhyung Lee, Kathleen Munning, Katora P Campbell, Deborah Ziebarth, Lanet Owen, Joel Jihwan Hwang
{"title":"Implementation of a Faith Community Nursing Transition of Care Program in the USA: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis.","authors":"SangNam Ahn, Joonhyung Lee, Kathleen Munning, Katora P Campbell, Deborah Ziebarth, Lanet Owen, Joel Jihwan Hwang","doi":"10.1007/s10943-024-02213-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-024-02213-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Faith community nursing (FCN) is a specialty nursing practice that integrates spiritual and religious practices into patient care. This study aimed to quantitatively assess the impact of the standardized FCN transition of care (TOC) program on the rate of hospital readmission and length of stay (LOS) through propensity score matching and difference-in-differences methods. Compared with those in the non-FCN group (n = 409), patients in the FCN group (n = 66) had a reduced likelihood of hospital readmission at 30, 90, and 180 days after discharge (by 8.8%, 9.0%, and 9.5%, respectively). Additionally, the FCN group exhibited a shorter LOS by 0.31, 0.53, and 0.87 days at 30, 90, and 180 days, respectively. The present study thus demonstrated the successful implementation of the FCN TOC program in a hospital setting, which reduced both the hospital readmission rate and LOS after discharge.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143014189","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ana Afonso, Sara Sitefane, Janaína Fabri, Isabel Rabiais, Sílvia Caldeira
{"title":"Teaching Spirituality in Nursing: A Bibliometric Analysis.","authors":"Ana Afonso, Sara Sitefane, Janaína Fabri, Isabel Rabiais, Sílvia Caldeira","doi":"10.1007/s10943-024-02247-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-024-02247-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The study of spirituality in nursing education has become an emerging academic field, making it important to understand its evolution using bibliometric indicators. To achieve this, a search was conducted on July 8, 2024, using the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Titles and abstracts were screened in Rayyan, and data analysis was performed using Bibliometrix and Biblioshiny in the R language. A total of two hundred thirty documents published between 1981 and 2024 were included. The United States contributed the most publications (n = 70), and Wilfred McSherry was the most prolific author, with 16 publications and the highest h-index. Nurse Education Today was the journal with the most publications. Transition themes identified include spiritual competence and spiritual care education.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143014191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How are the Spiritual Resources and Needs of Mental Health Consumers Identified and Documented by Staff upon Admission to an Australian Mental Health Service? A Mixed Methods Study.","authors":"Kate Fiona Jones, Megan C Best","doi":"10.1007/s10943-024-02237-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-024-02237-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study investigated how the spiritual resources and needs of Australian mental health consumers are identified by staff during admission at an inner-city acute care hospital. A mixed-methods study was conducted incorporating an audit of medical records (n = 205), and a staff focus group (n = 6). The results revealed that information collected during admission is often limited to factors such as medical and social history. Although participants could identify benefits of asking about spirituality, reasons for not asking were also articulated. Staff training and better care planning were identified as two ways to improve awareness of patients' spiritual needs.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143014187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Skeletal Findings Consistent with Signs of Rigorous Jewish Religious Practice in Four Skeletons from Qumran (Near-East), First-Century CE.","authors":"P Charlier, E Conlon, I Huynh, J B Humbert","doi":"10.1007/s10943-024-02230-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-024-02230-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Anthropological and palaeopathological examination of four male skeletons from Qumran (Near-East) revealed skeletal lesions that may be linked to an intense practice of traditional Jewish rituals within this hyper-religious community of the first-century CE: chronic inflammation of the external auditory canals linked to frequent immersion in sacred baths (mikvah), and osteo-articular lesions following intense and repeated genuflection and anteflexion of the trunk.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142985196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Approaches for Analyzing the Relationship Between Spirituality and Health Using Measures Contaminated with Indicators of Mental and Social Health.","authors":"Harold G Koenig, Lindsay B Carey","doi":"10.1007/s10943-025-02249-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-025-02249-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There has been concern raised in religion/spirituality (R/S) research about the use of measures of spirituality that are contaminated by indicators of mental and/or social health. Many of these scales are used widely in published studies examining associations with health, and yet many researchers and reviewers are not aware of contamination issues. We have previously cautioned researchers to be careful in their choice of religious/spirituality (R/S) measures (Koenig and Carey in J Relig Health, 63(5):3729-3743. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-024-02112-6 , 2024), and to avoid using measures contaminated with the health outcome being assessed, which will result in tautological findings (particularly between spirituality and mental health). However, not all is lost. There are approaches for analyzing collected data using contaminated measures that can still result in meaningful and interpretable results, which may contribute to our knowledge of the impact of R/S on health. In this brief article, we describe several approaches for analyzing such data including deleting contaminated items from the scale, analyzing subscales separately, and modeling psychosocial scales, subscales, or collections of variables as mediators in the causal pathway that leads from R/S to health. The use of path analysis or structural equation modeling to identify direct effects and indirect effects through mediating constructs may also be helpful in this regard.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142980246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Towards Modern Care and Education for Persons with visual Impairments in Poland: Elżbieta Róża Czacka (1876-1961) and Her Contribution to the Development of Typhlology-Religious Inspirations.","authors":"Małgorzata Grzywacz, Agnieszka Kulig, Magdalena Piorunek","doi":"10.1007/s10943-024-02244-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-024-02244-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The aim of this study is to show the relationship between spirituality and the development of modern typhlology focused on supporting people with visual impairments. The text presents the silhouette of Mother Rose Czacka, the sources of her Catholic spirituality and the development of typhlological thought related to her, as well as Dzieło Lasek, which is an emanation of these relationships. The aim of this study is to show the relationship between spirituality and the development of modern typhlology focused on supporting people with visual impairments. These relationships are reflected in the activity of Blessed Rose Czacka (1876-1961) that focused on developing a model of education and care for people with visual impairments in Poland in the first half of the twentieth century. Her religious motivations related to the establishment of the Franciscan Congregation of the Servants of the Cross were closely related to her development of the scientific and organisational foundations for the system of support for people with visual impairments in Poland at that time. The comprehensive support centre established by her, which comprised education and care for people with visual impairments in Poland in 1910 called Dzieło Lasek [eng. The work of Laski], was a pioneer, and the methods of work developed in this facility have been improved over time and provide the basis of the activities of the centre to this day. This is a great example of a religiously inspired work to help people with disabilities. The text presents the silhouette of Mother Rose Czacka, the sources of her Catholic spirituality and the development of typhlological thought related to her, as well as Dzieło Lasek, which is an emanation of these relationships. The text uses desk research analysis, focusing on existing written materials and the analysis of texts devoted to the reception of Róza Czacka`s work. The main limitation of the study is a limited number of resources, restricted mainly to texts written in Polish. The theoretical assumptions and solutions proposed by Róża Czacka, despite her numerous connections with the European pedagogical thought of the first half of the twentieth century, have been scarcely discussed. On the other hand, Dzieło Lasek grew up in a specific cultural and historical context and the generalisation of the proposed solutions encounters specific limitations resulting from this fact. The text depicts examples of activities that benefit persons with visual impairments and are underpinned by religious motivations. Desk research analysis helped to describe the pioneering activity in Poland of Róża Elżbieta Czacka (1876-1961), a member of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Servants of the Cross, a blessed of the Roman Catholic Church. As a precursor of Polish typhlology, Mother Czacka is the foundress of the Work of Laski, a comprehensive centre for the support and education of blind persons in operation until today. Róża Czacka's personal","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142972809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}