Meditation, Mindfulness, and Prayer: Three Spiritual Modalities Utilized for Healing.

This paper describes three spiritual practices utilized for healing. These modalities-meditation, mindfulness, and prayer-share a spiritual foundation and appear to operate, in part, through mind-body connections that can be accessed to ameliorate physical and psychological symptoms and to promote health. For each modality, this paper discusses pertinent conceptual issues, summarizes empirical evidence suggestive of a role in healing, and outlines theoretical support for such a relationship. Also discussed is a fourth modality, energy healing, and how it might be studied, as well as why further investigation of spiritual healing is merited and a worthwhile topic for medical research.

Religious Differences in Physical and Mental Health among Israeli Jews: Findings from the Global Flourishing Study.

Numerous studies have identified religious correlates of health indicators, but relatively few have been conducted among Jewish populations in Israel or the diaspora. This study investigates the possibility of a religious gradient in physical and mental health and well-being across the familiar categories of Jewish religious identity and observance in Israel: hiloni (secular), masorti lo dati (traditional, non-religious), masorti (traditional), dati (religious or Orthodox), and charedi (ultra-Orthodox). Data are from Jewish respondents aged 18 and over (N = 2916) from the Israeli sample of the new, 22-nation Global Flourishing Study, which used stratified, probability-based sampling and assessed demographic, socioeconomic, political, religious, health-related, and other variables. This analysis investigated religious differences in nine indicators of physical and mental health and well-being among Israeli Jews. Using a strategy of one-way ANOVA and ANCOVA, adjusting for complex sampling design components, a statistically significant "dose-response"-like gradient was found for eight of the outcome measures, validated by additional multiple comparison tests. For four "positively" worded indicators (physical and mental health, happiness, and life satisfaction), scores increased consistently from the hiloni to the charedi categories. For four of five "negatively" worded indicators (bodily pain, depression, anxiety, and suffering), scores decreased across the same categories. Results withstood adjusting for effects of age, sex, education, marital status, urbanicity, income, and nativity (whether born in Israel). Among Israeli Jews, greater religiousness was associated with higher levels of health and well-being and lower levels of somatic and psychological distress.

Nothingness, Oneness, and Infinity: Transcendent Experience as a Promising Frontier for Religion and Health Research.

This paper advocates for a renewed focus into the experiential domain of religious and spiritual expression in research on physical and mental health. Most studies, up to now, have investigated risk or protection associated with behavioral measures of religiousness, whether public behaviors such as religious attendance or private behaviors such as personal prayer. Religious attitudes, beliefs, and identity have been studied, as well, as have religious self-rating scales of various types, but, relatively less emphasized have been subjective experiences, such as feelings of transcendence or unitive connection with the divine. There is good reason to believe that such experiences may impact on well-being, based both on previous studies and on theory and clinical observation. This paper suggests that although researching the domain of such seemingly ineffable experiences may present certain conceptual and methodological challenges, these would be worth facing in order to gain deeper insight into the human spiritual dimension and into connections among body, mind, and spirit.

Determinants of COVID-19 skepticism and SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy: findings from a national population survey of U.S. adults.

BACKGROUND: The enduring presence of COVID-19 skepticism and SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy is an ongoing impediment to the global response effort to the current pandemic. This study seeks to identify determinants of skepticism and vaccine hesitancy in U.S. adults. METHODS: Data are from the Values and Beliefs of the American Public Survey, conducted in 2021 by the Gallup Organization in conjunction with Baylor University. The survey used stratified random probability sampling of the U.S. adult population (N = 1222). Outcome measures were respective single items assessing COVID-19 skepticism and SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy. Exposure variables included political, religious, and sociodemographic indicators, and moderators assessed personal history of COVID-19 and losing a relative or close friend to COVID-19. RESULTS: Skepticism and vaccine hesitancy were strongly associated with conservative and Republican political preference and conservative religious beliefs, and less so with socioeconomic status. Personal experience with COVID-19 did not mitigate the effect of politics on skepticism and barely reduced the odds for hesitancy. Results confirm that attitudes toward COVID-19 are politically and religiously conditioned, and are especially a product of conservative political preference. CONCLUSION: Skepticism about COVID-19 and hesitancy regarding SARS-CoV-2 vaccination are highest among the political and religious right. Efforts to increase immunization through public education may be inadequate; resistance appears ideological. Other solutions may need to be considered, which risk widespread pushback both politically and religiously motivated.

Human Flourishing and Population Health: Meaning, Measurement, and Implications.

Human flourishing has recently emerged as a construct of interest in clinical and population-health studies. Its origins as a focus of research are rooted in philosophical writing dating to Aristotle's concept of eudaimonia, in the work of contemporary psychologists, and in studies by epidemiologists, physicians, and social and behavioral scientists who have investigated religious influences on physical and mental health since the 1980s. Inasmuch as human flourishing has been characterized as multidimensional or multifaceted, with hypothetically broad antecedents and significant outcomes, it may be an especially valuable construct for researchers. For one, it would seem to tap something deeper and more meaningful than the superficial single-item measures that often characterize such studies. This article surveys the rich history of the concept of human flourishing in its multiple meanings and contexts across disciplines, proposes a conceptual model for assessing the construct, and lays out an agenda for clinical and population-health research.

The Faith Community and the SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak: Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?

The current outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a critical moment in time for institutional religion in the USA and throughout the world. Individual clergy and congregations, across faith traditions, have been sources of misinformation and disinformation, promoting messages and actions that engender fear, animosity toward others, and unnecessary risk-taking. But there is a positive role for religion and faith-based institutions here, and many examples of leaders and organizations stepping up to contribute to the collective recovery. Personal faith and spirituality may be a source of host resistance and resilience. Religiously sponsored medical care institutions are vital to health care response efforts. Ministries and faith-based organizations are source of religious health assets that can help to meet community-wide needs. There is a pastoral role for clergy and laypeople who are instrumental in providing comfort and strength to the suffering and fearful in our midst. The outbreak presents an ethical challenge to all of us to step outside of our own preoccupations and to be present and of service for others. This includes having the courage to represent the highest values of our faith in speaking out against religiously motivated foolishness and hatred and in calling for political and public health leaders to be truthful and transparent in their messages to us.

"For They Knew Not What It Was": Rethinking the Tacit Narrative History of Religion and Health Research.

Over the past couple of decades, research on religion and health has grown into a thriving field. Misperceptions about the history and scope of this field, however, continue to exist, especially among new investigators and commentators on this research. Contrary to the tacit narrative, published research and writing date to the nineteenth century, programmatic research to the 1950s, and NIH funding to 1990; elite medical journals have embraced this topic for over 100 years; study populations are religiously and sociodemographically diverse; and published findings are mostly positive, consistent with psychosocial theories of health and confirmed by comprehensive reviews and expert panels.

Prevalence and Religious Predictors of Healing Prayer Use in the USA: Findings from the Baylor Religion Survey.

Using data from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey (N = 1714), this study investigates the prevalence and religious predictors of healing prayer use among US adults. Indicators include prayed for self (lifetime prevalence = 78.8 %), prayed for others (87.4 %), asked for prayer (54.1 %), laying-on-of-hands (26.1 %), and participated in a prayer group (53.0 %). Each was regressed onto eight religious measures, and then again controlling for sociodemographic variables and health. While all religious measures had net effects on at least one healing prayer indicator, the one consistent predictor was a four-item scale assessing a loving relationship with God. Higher scores were associated with more frequent healing prayer use according to every measure, after controlling for all other religious variables and covariates.

Religious differences in self-rated health among US Jews: findings from five urban population surveys.

Research findings on religion and health among Jews are in relatively short supply. While recent studies report on the health of Israelis and the mental health of Jews in the USA, little information exists on the physical health of US Jews, especially from population surveys. In this study, data are analyzed from five urban surveys of Jews conducted since 2000: two surveys from New York (N = 4,533; N = 5,993) and one apiece from Chicago (N = 1,993), Philadelphia (N = 1,217), and Boston (N = 1,766). A strategy of two-way ANCOVA with interaction was used to test for differences in self-rated health across five categories of Jewish religious affiliation (secular, Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Orthodox) and four categories of synagogue attendance (from never to at least weekly). Findings, adjusted for age and effects of other covariates, reveal that affiliated and synagogue-attending Jews report moderately better health than secular and non-attending Jews.

The challenges of epidemiologic translation: communicating with physicians, policymakers, and the public.

Translational epidemiology refers to the practical application of population-health research findings to efforts addressing health disparities and other public health issues. A principal focus of epidemiologic translation is on the communication of results to constituencies who can best make use of this information to effect positive health-related change. Indeed, it is contended that findings from epidemiologic research are of greatest use only if adequately communicated to health professionals, legislators and policymakers, and the public. This paper details the challenges faced by efforts to communicate findings to the these constituencies, especially three types of miscommunication that can derail efforts at translation. These include perceived misinformation, perceived disinformation, and perceived censorship. Epidemiologists are ethically obliged to avoid these types of miscommunication, and, accordingly, are advised to place greater emphasis on messaging and media outreach to physicians, government officials, medical educators, and the general public.

Prevalence and determinants of massage therapy use in the U.S.: Findings from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey.

BACKGROUND: This study presents findings on the prevalence and determinants of past-year massage therapy use among U.S. adults from the 2022 round of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (total available N = 27,651), an annual national population survey. METHODS: The NHIS uses face-to-face interviews on a representative sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population drawn using a systematic, stratified, single-stage probability design. The analyses consist of logistically modeling the determinants of three outcome (dependent) measures: past year utilization of a practitioner of massage, past year utilization of massage for pain, and past-year utilization of massage to restore overall health. Exposure (independent) variables include numerous sociodemographic, health services, health-related, mental health and well-being, and behavioral indicators. RESULTS: The past-year prevalence rate for visiting a massage therapist in the U.S. is 11.1 %. The past-year rate for massage visits for pain is 6.0 %, and for restoring overall health is 8.5 %. Significantly higher rates are found among females and socioeconomically advantaged individuals, among other categories, and the strongest net determinant of massage therapy utilization is use of complementary or integrative practitioners. CONCLUSION: It is apparent that massage therapy is a commonly utilized therapeutic modality in the U.S. While use of complementary or integrative therapies is a significant determinant of massage utilization, it may not be fitting to consider massage therapy itself as an "alternative" therapy, but rather a widely used and increasingly mainstream therapeutic modality meriting wider integration into the community of healthcare professions.

Engaging the faith community for public health advocacy: an agenda for the Surgeon General.

This article proposes an agenda for the Surgeon General of the United States that is consonant with the traditional public health approach of "upstream" and "midstream" intervention addressing social and institutional determinants of health. Accordingly, this features a prominent role for expanded partnerships between the faith-based and public health sectors. Such an agenda would revise the current status quo for the Surgeon General, whose celebrated bully pulpit is currently focused more on encouraging "downstream" compliance with federal guidelines related to lifestyle behavior modification. A new faith-based agenda, by contrast, could more effectively advocate for core features of the traditional public health ethic, including primary prevention, the multiple determinants of population health, communitarianism and social justice, and a global perspective, supported by the historic prophetic role of the faith traditions.

Normal isn't normal: On the medicalization of health.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the proportion of the U.S. population classified as healthy based on 10 common indicators, examined in two ways: (1) above or below (in the healthy direction) the sample median (termed "normal"), and (2) below diagnostic cut-off points for clinical caseness or high risk (termed "ideal"). METHODS: Data are from the 2017-March 2020 round of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Sample sizes ranged from 3,956 to 8,961 for respective health indicators, with a total of 3,102 respondents for two weighted multi-item measures described below. Measures included the Alameda 5 health behaviors (smoking, drinking exercising, sleeping, and body mass index) and five standard biomarkers (systolic and diastolic blood pressure, resting heart rate, fasting glucose, and total cholesterol). Besides point prevalences for the normal and ideal categories for each indicator, we also calculated the proportion healthy for all 10 indicators, again calculated both ways, termed "meta-normal" and "meta-ideal." RESULTS: The prevalence of meta-normality was 1.05%, suggesting that hardly any adult Americans are completely healthy according to population norms. Findings for meta-ideality showed that while most Americans are not clinical cases for any respective indicator, only 5.55% met the official criteria for being healthy according to all 10 indicators. CONCLUSION: Most Americans appear healthy according to nearly all key health indicators and biomarkers, according to "normal" or "ideal" criteria. However, the proportion healthy according to all measures is extremely small. Relatively few U.S. adults are completely healthy according to clinical criteria (meta-ideal), and even fewer are completely healthy according to population norms (meta-normal). Results are interpreted through sociological writing on medicalization.

Religion and physical health among older Israeli Jews: findings from the SHARE-Israel study.

BACKGROUND: Despite decades of research on religious determinants of health, this subject has not been systematically investigated within Jewish populations, in Israel or the diaspora. The present paper is part of a series of studies using large-scale population data sources to map the impact of religiousness on the physical and mental health of Jews. OBJECTIVES: To identify religious predictors of physical health in a national probability sample of older Israeli Jews. METHODS: The data derive from the Israeli sample of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a cross-national survey program involving nearly a dozen nations. The Israeli sample comprises 1287 Jewish respondents aged 50 or over. Outcome measures include single-item assessments of self-rated health, long-term health problems, and activity limitation, as well as validated measures of diagnosed chronic diseases, physical symptoms, and activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL). RESULTS: Recent synagogue attendance is a significant predictor of better health for six of the seven health measures, even after adjusting for age and several other covariates and mediators, including measures of health-related behavior and social support. Prayer, by contrast, is inversely associated with health according to five measures, perhaps reflecting its use as a coping mechanism for individuals with health problems. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents modest evidence of a salutary effect of Jewish religiousness on this population of older adults. Religiousness, in the form of synagogue participation, was seen to serve a protective function, and prayer a coping function.

Jewish ethical themes that should inform the national healthcare discussion: a prolegomenon.

Despite the passage of H.R. 3590 in the 111th Congress, the national healthcare debate in the United States continues, with repeal or modification of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act under ongoing consideration. Reference is often made to morality or ethics, but typically in general terms only. This paper elucidates themes from one system of moral theology, namely Jewish healthcare ethics, that would valuably inform this debate. Themes include "covenant," "holiness," "justice," "mercy," "for the sake of peace," "to save a life," "peoplehood," "repair of the world," "repentance," and "jubilee." Policy-related, economic, political, and moral challenges to acting on these principles are discussed.

A faith-based prescription for the Surgeon General: challenges and recommendations.

This article summarizes how the Office of the Surgeon General can leverage faith-based resources to fulfill its mission and that of the Surgeon General of the United States. Such resources, personal and institutional, have been utilized historically in health promotion and disease prevention efforts and are a valuable ally for public health, an alliance that continues under the Obama Administration. This paper outlines the history and mission of the Office; details the recent history of federal faith-based initiatives; and advocates an expanded alliance between the faith-based and public health sectors sensitive to legal and professional boundaries.

Toward a translational epidemiology of religion: Challenges and applications.

This paper explores the concept of translational epidemiology in the context of epidemiologic studies of religious determinants of morbidity and mortality. Despite a research literature of, by now, thousands of published studies, many in top-tier medical and public health journals, some resistance remains to full acceptance of this work. A principal reason may be the failure of investigators to make the case for real-world applications of epidemiologic findings on religious risk or protection for subsequent personal or population health, in keeping with the definition of translational epidemiology. To remedy this, a case is made for a translational epidemiology of religion. Three types of translation are proposed. The first two recall the standard definition of translational medicine as "from bench to bedside," in this instance two types of bedside encounters, pastoral and clinical. The third application is to public health practice, involving multiple public health professions and specialties. As with other substantive topics within psychosocial epidemiology, research on population-health outcomes of religious exposures provides information that can be applied to development of health promotion and disease prevention programs and formulation of health policy. But this can happen only if investigators give more attention to enumerating potential uses of their findings.

Guidelines and standards for the study of death and recalled experiences of death--a multidisciplinary consensus statement and proposed future directions.

An inadvertent consequence of advances in stem cell research, neuroscience, and resuscitation science has been to enable scientific insights regarding what happens to the human brain in relation to death. The scientific exploration of death is in large part possible due to the recognition that brain cells are more resilient to the effects of anoxia than assumed. Hence, brain cells become irreversibly damaged and "die" over hours to days postmortem. Resuscitation science has enabled life to be restored to millions of people after their hearts had stopped. These survivors have described a unique set of recollections in relation to death that appear universal. We review the literature, with a focus on death, the recalled experiences in relation to cardiac arrest, post-intensive care syndrome, and related phenomena that provide insights into potential mechanisms, ethical implications, and methodologic considerations for systematic investigation. We also identify issues and controversies related to the study of consciousness and the recalled experience of cardiac arrest and death in subjects who have been in a coma, with a view to standardize and facilitate future research.