Session: Spirituality: A Nearly Forgotten Factor in Public Health

The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

1001.0: Saturday, November 9, 2002: 9:00 AM-5:00 PM

Oral

Spirituality: A Nearly Forgotten Factor in Public Health

Statement of Purpose and Institute Overview:

The purpose of this Continuing Education Institute is to summarize the state of the science on spirituality / religion and critical public health outcomes; and to suggest what implications this cutting-edge research has for health-related program development and public policy priorities. Using video, lecture, and narrative history formats, the presentations will explore in depth the spiritual resources and needs of at-risk populations, including racial minorities, prisoners and their children, the chronic mentally ill, disabled and terminally ill persons, homebound elders, and hospitalized patients. Presenters will evaluate the efficacy of clinical and community-based strategies related to spirituality and religious faith for the primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of health problems in targeted subgroups. Implications for medical and nursing practice, for epidemiologic and qualitative research, for community programming, and for public policy will be explored in the presentations and in ample opportunity for question-and-answer periods. For faculty, timeline and disclosure see: http://www.apha.org/meetings/continuing_ed.htm

Learning Objectives: 1. Demonstrate how frequently patients would like spirituality addressed in their health care 2. Explain how frequently and how well published clinical research has addressed spiritual and religious factors 3. Discuss prevention research findings concerning spirituality associated with addiction disorders, longevity, and suicide 4. List two aspects of religious participation that are higher for African-Americans than Whites 5. Describe three ways in which religious involvement can affect the health of African Americans 6. Assess religion as a protective factor in public health 7. Evaluate the efficacy of faith-based organizations (FBO) 8. Describe dimensions of early and mid-life religion/spirituality relevant to late life health 9. Discuss the differential experience of spiritual life histories in population subgroups at risk 10. Distinguish the frequency of religious attendance from the importance of religious beliefs in disabled populations 11. Describe different methods for studying end-of-life samples 12. Describe the clinical applications of research on religion and health 13. Prioritize the needs for future research on religion and health 14. Describe religious leadership competencies that expand and complement the public health competencies widely recognized with Public Health Leadership Institutes 15. Describe the eight strengths of congregations identified by the Interfaith Health Program that pertain to community health improvement strategies

See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information.

Organizer(s):

Harold G. Koenig, MD, MHSc

9:00 AM

Withdrawn -- Spirituality: Patient-relevance, systematic reviews, and the role of prevention

9:35 AM

Welcoming Remarks

9:40 AM

Introductory Remarks

9:45 AM

Pre Course Assessment

9:50 AM