Query: Spirituality

title: Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications
abstract: This paper provides a concise but comprehensive review of research on religion/spirituality (R/S) and both mental health and physical health. It is based on a systematic review of original data based quantitative research published in peer reviewed journals between 1872 and 2010, including a few seminal articles published since 2010. First, I provide a brief historical background to set the stage. Then I review research on R/S and mental health, examining relationships with both positive and negative mental health outcomes, where positive outcomes include well being, happiness, hope, optimism, and gratefulness, and negative outcomes involve depression, suicide, anxiety, psychosis, substance abuse, delinquency/crime, marital instability, and personality traits (positive and negative) I then explain how and why R/S might influence mental health. Next, I review research on R/S and health behaviors such as physical activity, cigarette smoking, diet, and sexual practices, followed by a review of relationships between R/S and heart disease, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and dementia, immune functions, endocrine functions, cancer, overall mortality, physical disability, pain, and somatic symptoms. I then present a theoretical model explaining how R/S might influence physical health. Finally, I discuss what health professionals should do in light of these research findings and make recommendations in this regard.

title: Quality of life and spirituality
abstract: Spirituality has been identified as an important dimension of quality of life. The objective of this study was to review the literature on quality of life and spirituality, their association, and assessment tools. A search was conducted of the keyterms 'quality of life' and 'spirituality' in abstract or title in the databases PsycINFO and PubMed/Medline between 1979 2005, complemented by a new search at PUBMED from 2006 2016. Quality of life is a new concept, which encompasses and transcends the concept of health, being composed of multiple domains: physical, psychological, environmental, among others. The missing measure in health has been defined as the individual's perception of their position in life in the context of culture and value system in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns. There is consistent evidence of an association between quality of life and religiosity/spirituality (R/S) through studies with reasonable methodological rigour, using several variables to assess R/S (e.g. religious affiliation, religious coping, and prayer/spirituality) There are also several valid and reliable instruments to evaluate quality of life and spirituality. Further studies are needed, however, especially in Brazil. Such studies will provide empirical data to be used in planning health interventions based on spirituality, seeking a better quality of life. In the last 10 years, research is consistently growing about quality of life and spirituality in many countries, and also in many areas of health research.

title: State of the Science of Spirituality and Palliative Care Research Part I: Definitions, Measurement, and Outcomes.
abstract: The State of the Science in Spirituality and Palliative Care was convened to address the current landscape of research at the intersection of spirituality and palliative care and to identify critical next steps to advance this field of inquiry. Part I of the SOS SPC two part series focuses on questions of 1) What is spirituality? 2) What methodological and measurement issues are most salient for research in palliative care? And 3) What is the evidence relating spirituality and health outcomes? After describing current evidence we make recommendations for future research in each of the three areas of focus. Results show wide variance in the ways spirituality is operationalized and the need for definition and conceptual clarity in research in spirituality. Furthermore, the field would benefit from hypothesis driven outcomes research based on a priori specification of the spiritual dimensions under investigation and their longitudinal relationship with key palliative outcomes, the use of validated measures of predictors and outcomes, and rigorous assessment of potential confounding variables. Finally, results highlight the need for research in more diverse populations.

title: Spirituality in young adults with end stage cancer: a review of the literature and a call for research.
abstract: Existing research finds that spiritual wellness may enhance quality of life in those with end stage cancer. Unfortunately, much of the literature is focused on the spirituality of those in middle and older adulthood, leaving questions about the spirituality of young adults facing life threatening illness. This article reviews the current landscape of spirituality in young adults with cancer. In addition, this paper serves as a call for research to consider the development of spirituality in this unique population. The literature shows that young adults with cancer are less likely to use mental health services compared to other age groups with cancer. Research tends to be restricted to early young adulthood with a focus on spiritual or religious practices and less about the meaning of spirituality in the context of their illness. A review of the development of spirituality in healthy young adults helps to build the framework to ask questions about what may be occurring for those with life threatening illness.

title: Workplace spirituality, perceived organizational support and innovative work behavior: The mediating effects of person organization fit
abstract: Synthesizing theories of innovative work behavior, workplace spirituality and person organization (P O) fit, this paper aims to build and test a theoretical model linking workplace spirituality, perceived organizational support (POS) and innovative work behavior via P O fit. This study examined the mediating effect of P O fit on the relationship of workplace spirituality and POS with innovative work behavior (IWB) Design/methodology/approach A sample of 434 employees and 59 supervisors from five leading hotels of China was used for this study.  This study found that workplace spirituality and POS both positively affected P O fit. Workplace spirituality, P O fit and POS positively influenced innovative work behavior. P O fit acted as a partial mediator between workplace spirituality and IWB and between POS and IWB.  This study has tested the effect of workplace spirituality as an antecedent of innovative work behavior for the first time.

title: Workplace spirituality, mindfulness meditation, and work engagement
abstract: Workplace spirituality has received increasing attention during the past few decades, especially their effect on work outcome. The purposes of the research were to: (1) extend the findings of Petchsawang and Duchon (2012) in examining the relationships among mindfulness meditation, workplace spirituality, and work engagement in an eastern specifically Thai context; and (2) compare workplace spirituality and work engagement in organizations that provide mindfulness meditation courses to employees and those that do not. The sample came from four organizations that offered meditation courses (248 from 300) and four organizations that did not (315 from 400) in Thailand. The level of workplace spirituality and work engagement were found to be higher in organizations that offer meditation courses than in those that do not. Additionally, mindfulness meditation has a statistically significant relationship with workplace spirituality and work engagement, and workplace spirituality fully meditates the relationship between meditation and work engagement.

title: Spirituality, religiosity, aging and health in global perspective: A review
abstract: Persistent population aging worldwide is focusing attention on modifiable factors that can improve later life health. There is evidence that religiosity and spirituality are among such factors. Older people tend to have high rates of involvement in religious and/or spiritual endeavors and it is possible that population aging will be associated with increasing prevalence of religious and spiritual activity worldwide. Despite increasing research on religiosity, spirituality and health among older persons, population aging worldwide suggests the need for a globally integrated approach. As a step toward this, we review a subset of the literature on the impact of religiosity and spirituality on health in later life. We find that much of this has looked at the relationship between religiosity/spirituality and longevity as well as physical and mental health. Mechanisms include social support, health behaviors, stress and psychosocial factors. We identify a number of gaps in current knowledge. Many previous studies have taken place in the U.S. and Europe. Much data is cross sectional, limiting ability to make causal inference. Religiosity and spirituality can be difficult to define and distinguish and the two concepts are often considered together, though on balance religiosity has received more attention than spirituality. The latter may however be equally important. Although there is evidence that religiosity is associated with longer life and better physical and mental health, these outcomes have been investigated separately rather than together such as in measures of health expectancy. In conclusion, there is a need for a unified and nuanced approach to understanding how religiosity and spirituality impact on health and longevity within a context of global aging, in particular whether they result in longer healthy life rather than just longer life.

title: Concept Analysis of Spirituality: An Evolutionary Approach.
abstract: The aim of this article is to clarify the concept of spirituality for future nursing research.  Previous concept analyses of spirituality have mostly reviewed the conceptual literature with little consideration of the empirical literature. The literature reviewed in prior concept analyses extends from 1972 to 2005, with no analysis conducted in the past 9 years.  Rodgers' evolutionary framework was used to review both the theoretical and empirical literature pertaining to spirituality. Evolutionary concept analysis is a formal method of philosophical inquiry, in which papers are analyzed to identify attributes, antecedents, and consequences of the concept.  Empirical and conceptual literature.  Three defining attributes of spirituality were identified: connectedness, transcendence, and meaning in life. A conceptual definition of spirituality was proposed based on the findings. Also, four antecedents and five primary consequences of spirituality were identified.  Spirituality is a complex concept. This concept analysis adds some clarification by proposing a definition of spirituality that is underpinned by both conceptual and empirical research. Furthermore, exemplars of spirituality, based on prior qualitative research, are presented to support the findings. Hence, the findings of this analysis could guide future nursing research on spirituality.

title: Workplace Spirituality and Employee Well being: An Empirical Exploration
abstract: The popularity of concept of spirituality is increasing exponentially in the field of human resource management. Both academicians and practitioners are looking at spirituality to solve modern day human resource challenges. Spirituality at work is about search for meaning or higher purpose, connectedness and transcendence. The present research article addresses conceptual and empirical gap using the concept of workplace spirituality and empirically examines relationship between workplace spirituality and employee commitment, job satisfaction and work life balance satisfaction. The article successfully augments literature by suggesting one more dimension (Karma Capital) of Indian spiritual values. This is one of the pioneer studies that used necessary condition analysis (NCA) to explore workplace spirituality. Workplace spirituality was reported as a necessary determinant of employee commitment, job satisfaction and work life balance satisfaction. Relationship between these variables is further investigated through correlation matrix and regression analysis.

title: Religion and spirituality.
abstract: Many clients highly value religious and spiritual (R/S) commitments, and many psychotherapists have accommodated secular treatments to R/S perspectives. We meta analyzed 51 samples from 46 studies (N 3,290) that examined the outcomes of religious accommodative therapies and nonreligious spirituality therapies. Comparisons on psychological and spiritual outcomes were made to a control condition, an alternate treatment, or a subset of those studies that used a dismantling design (similar in theory and duration of treatment, but including religious contents) Patients in R/S psychotherapies showed greater improvement than those in alternate secular psychotherapies both on psychological (d .26) and on spiritual (d .41) outcomes. Religiously accommodated treatments outperformed dismantling design alternative treatments on spiritual (d .33) but not on psychological outcomes. Clinical examples are provided and therapeutic practices are recommended.