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Spirituality and health have always had a strong connection throughout history and across many cultures.
Shamanic healing is one of the earliest connections between spirituality and wellbeing. Spiritual practices such as prayer, reading scriptures and meditation play a large part in many people's well being.
It can all help to build up person's strength and to give them piece of mind.
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Traditionally spiritual well being as well as spirituality has been largely ignored in the western medical community. This has been to the detriment of the patient; recently however this attitude has changed. I will use the NHS in the Uk as an example.
These days most hospitals possess a chaplaincy or pastoral, spiritual, religious care which has representatives of all types of faiths, this was not the case previously. Their specific job is just to support and listen to anyone needing spiritual help, regardless of what a person's spiritual belief are and they do not impose beliefs.
Because spirituality is an important part many people's lives. I think it is important to have some medical staff with a good understanding of spiritual issues
In the short video below, Dr. Claudia Aguero-Vazquez from Family Practice Residency in Harlingen, Texas, talks about the spiritual work she does with her patients.
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Spirituality can help people with their mental health. I've seen close friends and family, who have gone through incredibly difficult times in their lives use spirituality to help them get through their problems.
A death can have a massive impact on the state of your mental health, if you have a strong spiritual belief it can help with the help greatly in the grieving process.
In England the National Institute for Mental Health supports the idea that humans are mind body and sprit
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There have been a number of studies down the years which have looked at the health benefits of spirituality.
One such study published in pubmed involved 90 people diagnosed with sickle cell.
The subjects were required to complete an online survey. The conclusion of the study was that spiritualty greatly helped the quality of life of sickle cell participants.