Published in:

Open Access 01-10-2024 | Public Health | ORIGINAL PAPER

Intersections of Compassion, Science, and Spiritual Care in Global Health for Public Health Benefits

Authors: Orogun Daniel, Harriet Harris

Published in: Journal of Religion and Health | Issue 6/2024

Abstract

Across the globe, spiritual care is offered by individuals, healthcare chaplains, and humanitarian, social and related spiritual groups on account of zeal, voluntary and paid services. Sometimes, services are provided without understanding the connectivity of compassion, spiritual care, and scientific protocols. There are instances where health professionals and managers disagree with spiritual caregivers or reject spiritual services because of poor service deliveries in conflict with healthcare protocols. Against this background, this article focuses on how spiritual care services can be provided scientifically to improve service delivery. It presents leading questions to link the scientific and compassionate approach to spiritual care. These include-What is science? What is compassion? What is spiritual care? What makes compassion and spiritual care scientific? Are there tenets of compassion in religions? How are compassion, science and spiritual care linked? What are the implications of the intersections for public health and safety? Hopefully, the provided answers may improve the service delivery performance of spiritual caregivers and their collaboration with healthcare professionals, social workers, and related groups.

Addiss, D. G., Richards, A., Adiabu, S., Horwath, E., Leruth, S., Graham, A. L., & Buesseler, H. (2022). Epidemiology of compassion: A literature review. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.992705CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Armstrong, K. (2010). The case for God. Vintage Canada

Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (n.d.) Default. https://acpe.edu/

Baily II, J. (2017, June 22). Sympathy, Black Voice News 50. https://theievoice.com/sympathy/

Balboni, T., Balboni, M., Paulk, M. E., Phelps, A., Wright, A., Peteet, J., Block, S., Lathan, C., VanderWeele, T., & Prigerson, H. (2011). Support of cancer patients’ spiritual needs and associations with medical care costs at the end of life. Cancer, 117(23), 5383–5391. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.26221CrossRefPubMed

Berlant, L. (2004). Introduction, in L. Berlant, ed. Compassion: The Culture and Politics of an Emotion, London

Blurring the line between public health and public safety-bill of health. (2021, August 5). Blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu. https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2021/08/05/public-health-safety-blm-covid/

Britt, K. C., & Acton, G. (2021). Exploring the meaning of spirituality and spiritual care with help from Viktor Frankl. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 40(1), 089801012110267. https://doi.org/10.1177/08980101211026776CrossRef

Brown-Hinds, P. (2015, February 18). Compassion in African Tradition. Black Voice News. https://blackvoicenews.com/2015/02/18/compassion-in-african-tradition

Cambridge Dictionary. (2019, November 4). SCIENCE | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. Cambridge.org. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/science

Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (n.d.). CASC/ACSS. https://www.spiritualcare.ca/

Canby, S. (2019). The Five Pillars of Islam. The Met; The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/learn/educators/curriculum-resources/art-of-the-islamic-world/unit-one/the-five-pillars-of-islam

Cates D. F. (2009). Aquinas on the Emotions. Georgetown University Press

Cates, D. F. (1997). Choosing to Feel: Virtue, Friendship, and Compassion for Friends. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press

Collins English Dictionary. (2019, May 27). Science definition and meaning | Collinsdictionary.com. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/science

DeMarco, M. (2023, July 3). Compassion is More Than Niceness | Psychology Today Canada. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/soul-console/202307/compassion-is-more-than-niceness#:~:text=Distilling%20compassion-

Daniel, O. O. (2020). Agencies of capitalism: evaluating Nigerian Pentecostalism using African moral philosophies. Repository.up.ac.za. https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/85751

Demystifying Al Jannah. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://www.alislam.org/articles/demystifying-al-jannah/

Department of Health and Social Care. (2012, March 8). NHS Constitution for England. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-constitution-for-england

Dunbar, R. I. M. (2016). The Social Brain Hypothesis and Human Evolution. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.44

Eldor, L., & Shoshani, A. (2016). Caring relationships in school staff: Exploring the link between compassion and teacher work engagement. Teaching and Teacher Education, 59, 126–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.06.001CrossRef

Feldman, C., & Kuyken, W. (2011). Compassion in the landscape of suffering. Contemporary Buddhism, 12(1), 143–155. https://doi.org/10.1080/14639947.2011.564831CrossRef

Fleming, K. (2024, March 8). The Art of Agape Love: An Ancient Concept for Modern Relationships. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/agape-love-8580332

Fuller, M & Jasper, D. (Eds.) (2021). Made in the image of God: Being human in the Christian tradition. Sacristy Press

Gilbert, P. (2019). Explorations into the nature and function of compassion. Current Opinion in Psychology, 28, 108–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.002CrossRefPubMed

Gilbert, P. (2010). The Compassionate Mind: a New Approach to Life’s Challenges. New Harbinger Publications

Goetz, J. L., Keltner, D., & Simon-Thomas, E. (2010). Compassion: An evolutionary analysis and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin, 136(3), 351–374. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018807CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Grounds, A., Gunn, J., Myers, W. C., Rosner, R., & Busch, K. G. (2010). Contemplating common ground in the professional ethics of forensic psychiatry. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 20(5), 307–322. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbm.789CrossRefPubMed

Gupta, A. K., Sharma, E., Kar, S. K., Tripathi, A., Reeves, T., Arjundas, R., & Dalal, P. K. (2019). Training and clinical impact of cognitive behaviour therapy workshops in a teaching hospital in north india. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 41(4), 343–347. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijpsym.ijpsym_183_18CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Haider, A. (2017). Understanding Islam Vol:2. Lulu.com

Halpern, J. (2003). What is clinical empathy? Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18(8), 670–674. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.21017.xCrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Harris, H and Balaam, M. (2021). Making Compassion Simple and Making it Work. (2021, July 6). The University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/chaplaincy/abundant-academy/compassion-for-our-times/making-compassion-simple-and-making-it-work

Harris, H. (2021). Compassion, human and divine in Made in the image of God: Being human in the Christian tradition by Fuller, M & Jasper, D. (Eds.). Sacristy Press.

Hefti, R. (2011). Integrating Religion and Spirituality into Mental Health Care. Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. Religions, 2(4), 611–627. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel2040611CrossRef

Henrich, D., Glombiewski, J. A., & Scholten, S. (2023). Systematic review of training in cognitive-behavioral therapy: Summarizing effects, costs and techniques. Clinical Psychology Review, 101, 102266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102266CrossRefPubMed

Ironson, G., Kremer, H., & Lucette, A. (2016). Relationship between spiritual coping and survival in patients with HIV. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 31(9), 1068–1076. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-016-3668-4CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Julia, K. (2020, October 14). What does the Bible say about compassion and mercy? (Christian Podcast). ActiveChristianity. https://activechristianity.org/what-does-the-bible-say-about-compassion-and-mercy-christian-podcast

Kirby, J. N., Tellegen, C. L., & Steindl, S. R. (2017). A Meta-Analysis of Compassion-Based Interventions: Current State of Knowledge and Future Directions. Behavior Therapy, 48(6), 778–792. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2017.06.003CrossRefPubMed

Lama, D., & Chan, V. (2014). The wisdom of compassion: stories of remarkable encounters and timeless insights. Riverhead Books.

Lama, D. (2005). Essence of the heart sutra: The Dalai Lama’s heart of wisdom teachings. USA: Wisdom Publications

Lama, D. (1995). The power of compassion. HarperCollins.

Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRef

Leaviss, J., & Uttley, L. (2015). Psychotherapeutic Benefits of compassion-focused therapy: An early systematic review. Psychological Medicine, 45(5), 927–945. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291714002141CrossRefPubMed

Lelorain, S., Brédart, A., Dolbeault, S., & Sultan, S. (2012). A systematic review of the associations between empathy measures and patient outcomes in cancer care. Psycho-Oncology, 21(12), 1255–1264. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.2115CrossRefPubMed

Lobis, S. (2015). The Virtue of Sympathy. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Lonczak, H. (2019, June 7). 20 Reasons why Compassion is so Important in Psychology. PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/why-is-compassion-important/

Louw J. D. (2020). Ubuntu: An African Assessment of The Religious Other. Philosophy in Africa, https://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Afri/AfriLouw.htm.

Lown, B. A., Rosen, J., & Marttila, J. (2011). An Agenda for improving compassionate care: A survey shows about half of patients say such care is missing. Health Affairs, 30(9), 1772–1778. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0539CrossRefPubMed

Mbiti, J. S. (1970). African religions and philosophy. Garden City, NY: Anchor

Merriam-Webster (2019). Definition of SCIENTIFIC. Merriam-Webster.com. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scientific

Merriam-Webster. (2009). Definition of SCIENCE. Merriam-Webster.com. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/science

Momeni, G., Hashemi, M. S., & Hemati, Z. (2022). Barriers to providing spiritual care from a nurses’ Perspective: A content analysis study. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, 27(6), 575–580. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijnmr.ijnmr_422_21CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Murgia, C., Notarnicola, I., Caruso, R., De Maria, M., Rocco, G., & Stievano, A. (2022). Spirituality and religious diversity in nursing: A scoping review. Healthcare, 10(9), 1661. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10091661CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Nussbaum, B. (2009). Ubuntu: Reflections of a South African on our common humanity, in Munyaradzi Felix Murov, African Ethics. University of Kwazulu Natal Press

Opoku, K. A. (1978). West African traditional religion. Accra: FEP

Pembroke, N. (2004). Working Relationships. Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Sakyi, J., & Nuyts, J. (2019). Modality and Evidentiality in Akan: A corpus-based study modality and evidentiality in Akan: A corpus-based study. https://repository.uantwerpen.be/docman/irua/483239/157666.pdf

Public Health and Public Safety. (n.d.). The White House. Retrieved March 30, 2024, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/ondcp/policy-and-research/ndcs/public-health-public-safety

Roat, A. (2019, December 20). What Does Agape Love Really Mean in the Bible? Christianity.com. https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-terms/what-does-agape-love-really-mean-in-the-bible.html

Rushton, L. (2014). What are the barriers to spiritual care in a hospital setting? British Journal of Nursing, 23(7), 370–374. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2014.23.7.370CrossRefPubMed

Science Council. (2009). Our definition of science. The Science Council ~. https://sciencecouncil.org/about-science/our-definition-of-science/#:~:text=Science%20is%20the%20pursuit%20and

Scottish Government. (2023). What is spiritual care and why is it important?. Retrieved September 4, 2023, from https://www.gov.scot/publications/discovering-meaning-purpose-hope-through-person-centred-well-being-spiritual-care-national-framework/pages/2/

Sorren, M., Berry, E., & Pannell, N. (2022, May 26). 40 Bible verses about showing kindness and compassion to all. Woman’s Day. https://www.womansday.com/life/inspirational-stories/g31010618/bible-verses-about-kindness/

Strauss, C., Lever Taylor, B., Gu, J., Kuyken, W., Baer, R., Jones, F., & Cavanagh, K. (2016). What is compassion and how can we measure it? A review of definitions and measures. Clinical Psychology Review, 47, 15–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2016.05.004CrossRefPubMed

Suddendorf, T. (2018). Two key features created the human mind: Inside our heads. Scientific American, 319(3), 42–47.CrossRef

Sulmasy, D. P. (2002). A Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Model for the Care of Patients at the End of Life. The Gerontologist, 42(suppl_33), 24–33. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/42.suppl_3.24CrossRefPubMed

Sun, D. (2017, January 1). Taking care of the sick in Islam. Daily-Sun. https://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/201360

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019). Pillars of Islam | Islamic Beliefs & Practices. In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pillars-of-Islam

The Pluralism Project, Harvard University. (2020). The five pillars. https://hwpi.harvard.edu/files/pluralism/files/the_five_pillars_1.pdf

The reward of taking care of one who is sick - Islam Question & Answer. (2012). Islamqa.info. https://islamqa.info/en/answers/105343/the-reward-of-taking-care-of-one-who-is-sick

University, G. (2021, November 19). Public Health vs. Public Safety Careers | Goodwin University the public health vs. public safety career path. Goodwin University. https://www.goodwin.edu/enews/public-health-vs-public-safety-degree/

University of Maryland Medical Centre. (2024). What is spiritual care? https://www.umms.org/ummc/patients-visitors/pastoral-care/what-is-spiritual-care

Van der Cingel, M. (2011). Compassion in care: A qualitative study of older people with a chronic disease and nurses. Nursing Ethics, 18(5), 672–685. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733011403556CrossRefPubMed

Van der Cingel, M. (2009). Compassion and professional care: Exploring the domain. Nursing Philosophy, 10(2), 124–136. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-769x.2009.00397.xCrossRefPubMed

Van Niekerk, A. (1994). Ubuntu and religion. Pretoria: Ubuntu School of Philosophy.

Wheater, K (2023, September 13). What is compassion in the time of Covid-19? The University of Edinburg,https://www.ed.ac.uk/chaplaincy/introducing-the-abundant-academy/compassion-for-our-times/what-is-compassion-in-the-time-of-covid-19

Zessin, U., Dickhäuser, O., & Garbade, S. (2015). The Relationship Between Self-Compassion and Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 7(3), 340–364. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12051CrossRefPubMed

Title: Intersections of Compassion, Science, and Spiritual Care in Global Health for Public Health Benefits
Authors: Orogun Daniel
Harriet Harris
Publication date: 01-10-2024
Publisher: Springer US
Keyword: Public Health
Published in: Journal of Religion and Health / Issue 6/2024
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-024-02145-x

Life Strain, Negative Emotions, and Religious Involvement in Contemporary China

ORIGINAL PAPER

Reasons and Expectations for Seeking Spiritual Treatment in Brazilian Spiritist Centers: A Qualitative Study

ORIGINAL PAPER

The Top 100 Most-Cited Articles on Religion from 2010 to 2023: A Bibliometric and Altmetric Analysis

Coping Skills
Original Paper

The Effect of the Holy Quran Recitation on Inflammatory Markers in Hemodialysis Patients in Iran: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Mood Disorders
ORIGINAL PAPER

Correction: Beyond HIV Shame: Effects of Self-Forgiveness in Improving Mental Health in HIV-Positive Individuals in Poland

Open Access
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Correction

Religion and Satisfaction with Life in Polish Seniors: Mediation by Forgiveness and Hope

Open Access
ORIGINAL PAPER

Keynote series | Spotlight on managing health in obesity

Springer Medicine

Intersections of Compassion, Science, and Spiritual Care in Global Health for Public Health Benefits

Abstract

Other articles of this Issue 6/2024

Life Strain, Negative Emotions, and Religious Involvement in Contemporary China

Reasons and Expectations for Seeking Spiritual Treatment in Brazilian Spiritist Centers: A Qualitative Study

The Top 100 Most-Cited Articles on Religion from 2010 to 2023: A Bibliometric and Altmetric Analysis

The Effect of the Holy Quran Recitation on Inflammatory Markers in Hemodialysis Patients in Iran: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Correction: Beyond HIV Shame: Effects of Self-Forgiveness in Improving Mental Health in HIV-Positive Individuals in Poland

Religion and Satisfaction with Life in Polish Seniors: Mediation by Forgiveness and Hope

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Life Strain, Negative Emotions, and Religious Involvement in Contemporary China

Reasons and Expectations for Seeking Spiritual Treatment in Brazilian Spiritist Centers: A Qualitative Study

The Top 100 Most-Cited Articles on Religion from 2010 to 2023: A Bibliometric and Altmetric Analysis

The Effect of the Holy Quran Recitation on Inflammatory Markers in Hemodialysis Patients in Iran: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Correction: Beyond HIV Shame: Effects of Self-Forgiveness in Improving Mental Health in HIV-Positive Individuals in Poland

Religion and Satisfaction with Life in Polish Seniors: Mediation by Forgiveness and Hope