Spirituality and Health Perceptions Among Teaching Medical Professionals in India

INTRODUCTION:  The 37^th World Health Assembly adopted resolution that spiritual dimension should be added to the scope of health. WHO developed Quality Of Life (WHOQOL) instrument in 1995 considering six domains, one being 'spirituality, religiosity and personal beliefs (SRPB)'. Since 1998, WHO multi-centric-study had been underway in eighteen countries to refine the WHPQOLSRPB module. Facets identified include divine love, inner-strength, wholeness, meaning-of-life and forgiveness. Study Objectives have been to evolve facets of spirituality, its conceptualization and definition and to explore its relevance in the present day medical and health-care, apart from developing an instrument of measurement. 

METHODS:  With this background the “perceptions of spiritual health among medical faculty and Resident Doctors” was explored using a brief questionnaire with fourteen open-ended and structured explicit questions covering concept, definition, perceptions and the role of spirituality in health and medical-care. It was circulated among the study-subjects through nine Coordinators located at Medical Colleges at Dharan, NEPAL; New Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Tirupati, and Pondicherry, in INDIA. 

RESULTS:  A total of 528 Medical Faculty and Resident Doctors have participated. The role Spiritual dimension of health was strongly believed by 67%; while ranking first according to their significance in maintaining overall health, Spiritual (18%), Physical (41%), Mental (34%) and Social (3%) were rated by the participants. Three-fourth of the responders believed that a non-religious person can be Spiritual and a spiritually healthy person falls ill less frequently (47%); copes better (77%); recovers faster (62%); deals better with illness(86%); and can face or deal with Death better (71%). Qualitative analyses findings are even more interesting

CONCLUSIONS:  Findings may help furtherance of research on spiritual-health and its relevance in the present day medical and health-care and to a great extent prevention of life style-non-communicable diseases as well providing strength in dealing with terminal diseases.