The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

3094.0: Monday, November 17, 2003 - 10:30 AM

Abstract #70444

Spirituality and health: Designing spiritual life groups for health care benefits

Bruce Nelson, MA, Community Services, Glendale Adventist Medical Center, 1509 Wilson Terrace, Glendale, CA 91206, 818-409-8008, nelsonbr@gamcpo.ah.org, Lee S Berk, DrPH, MPH, CHES, Susan Samueli Center and Dept. of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University of California Irvine, and Department of Health Promotion and Education, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, 11645 Wiley Street, Loma Linda, CA 92354, and Janet Cunningham, MD, Family Practice Residency Program, Glendale Adventist Medical Center, 1509 Wilson Terrace, Glendale, CA 91205.

The correlation between religious practice and health benefits has been the subject of many recent studies. However, the physiological mechanisms have not been clearly identified. In a project developed at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, Spiritual Life Groups have been developed and implemented, which draw on an array of inter-disciplinary insights from psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) and complexity theory. The 12-week groups facilitate spiritual transformation to increase homeostasis-preserving influences that improve stress management. Participants also learn to achieve personal “creative breakthroughs” that restructure perceptual orientation and facilitate adaptive response. Recently, an evaluation team comprising a psychologist and sociologist described the Spiritual Life Group as “highly successful.” According to Stanley Tan and Lee Berk, PNI medical researchers, the mechanism at work in its success arises from the differential cleaving of the neuropeptide proopiomelanocortin (POMC) in the pituitary. When life circumstances are perceived as threatening POMC is cleaved into stress hormones. However, when perceptual changes occur that constructively alter perceptions of threat, POMC is differentially metabolized as beta-endorphin, which produces feelings of euphoria characteristically associated with “creative breakthroughs” and spiritual transformations. The correlation between PNI parameters and emotional affect are well established, which means improved emotional well-being correlates with improved neuroendocrine and neuroimmune function. Successful outcomes for Spiritual Life Group participants may not only mean creatively discovering more effective responses to life challenges; it may also mean better health outcomes. Nonetheless, group process employs the traditional language and imagery of spirituality to aid discovery of the benefit spiritual resources may provide in health care.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Religion, Health Promotion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Body, Mind and Spirit in Public Health - Part I

The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA