Mental Health and Quality of Life Among Adults With Single, Multiple, and No Religious Affiliations.

Few studies have investigated the "multiple religious affiliations" phenomenon. This study aims to understand those with "multiple religious affiliations," describing its prevalence and investigating if there are differences in mental health and quality of life between this group and those with a single religious affiliation and those with no religious affiliation. A total of 1169 adults were included, and 58% had a single religious affiliation, 27.7% had multiple religious affiliations, and 12.3% had no religious affiliation. Participants with a single religious affiliation presented better mental health and quality of life than those with multiple or no religious affiliations. Although most outcomes were similar between multiple and no religious affiliations, happiness and optimism were higher in the multiple religious group, and anxiety was lower in the no religious group. Health care professionals should be aware of the secondary religious affiliations of their patients to identify possible conflicts and to treat them comprehensively.

Do espírito na saúde: oferta e uso de terapias alternativas/complementares nos serviços de saúde pública no Brasil / Of the spirit in health: offer and use of alternative / complementary therapies in the public health services in Brazil

A oferta mais recente de terapias alternativas no âmbito da saúde pública brasileira está relacionada com o lançamento da Portaria Interministerial 971 que, em 2006, instituiu a Política Nacional de Práticas Integrativas e Complementares (PNPIC). Tal Política tem por finalidade assegurar e promover o acesso, no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), à medicina tradicional chinesa, à homeopatia, à fitoterapia, ao termalismo e à medicina antroposófica. A publicação da PNPIC ensejou estados e municípios a produzirem suas próprias políticas e diretrizes relativas à oferta e ao uso das Práticas Integrativas e Complementares (PICs) no SUS. Nesta pesquisa, cujo objeto pode ser descrito como sendo as próprias Políticas de PICs, ocupo-me dos processos de legitimação e de regulação dessas práticas terapêuticas no SUS, bem como de sua realização no cotidiano de unidades de saúde, ambulatórios e hospitais públicos no Rio Grande do Sul. Inicialmente dedico-me a analisar o processo de invenção das Práticas Integrativas e Complementares (PICs). Inventar as PICs refere-se tanto a produção de registros burocráticos estatais específicos para essas práticas, como também indica o trabalho cotidiano de terapeutas, médicos e gestores empenhados em fazer com que terapias alternativas/complementares possam ser convertidas em PICs. Diante desse tema termino sugerindo que as Políticas de PICs além de legitimarem a oferta de terapias alternativas/complementares no SUS também criam mecanismos de regulação para essas práticas. Num segundo momento, detenho- me nos vínculos que se estabelecem entre PICs, espiritualidade e saúde. Além de atentar para a normatividade dessa associação em documentos de organismos de gestão da saúde, também trato do tema a partir de sua realização na prática clínica. Argumentando pela necessidade de atenção à categoria espiritualidade em si, demonstro como a "espiritualidade" tem sido capaz de mobilizar agentes e instituições implicados na oferta de terapias alternativas/complementares no SUS. Sugiro, por fim, que a oferta de PICs no SUS tem se constituído como uma modalidade oficial de atenção à dimensão espiritual da saúde no Brasil.(AU)

The recent availability of alternative therapies in Brazil's public health system is a result of the 971 Interministerial Order which, in 2006, established the National Policy of Integrative and Complementary Practices (PNPIC). Such policy aims at ensuring and promoting access, through the Unified Health System (SUS), to traditional Chinese medicine, homeopathy, phytotherapy, thermalism, and anthroposophical medicine. The announcement of the PNPIC created the opportunity for states and municipalities to elaborate their own policies and guidelines regarding the provision and use of Integrative and Complementary practices (ICPs) in the SUS. In this research, whose focus is on the policies of ICPs, we investigate the processes of legitimation and regulation of such therapeutic practices within SUS, as well as their implementation routines in health care units, clinics and public hospital in Rio Grande do Sul. We begin by analyzing the invention of Integrative and Complementary Practices (ICPs). Invention of ICPs refers here equally to the production of bureaucratic state records that are specific to such policy, and to the daily work of therapists, physicians and managers who strive to turn alternative/complementary therapies into ICPs. With this in mind, we conclude that the ICPs policies, in addition to legitimizing the availability of alternative/complementary therapies within SUS, likewise create the regulatory tools for carrying out such practices. In the second part, we look into the ties established between ICPs, spirituality and health. Here we explore both the normativity of these links by surveying documents produced by health care managing organizations, and the policy's practical implementation in clinics. Contending that the category of spirituality deserves attention on its own, we demonstrate that the notion of "spirituality" has been mobilized agents and institutions involved in the provision of alternative/complementary therapies within SUS. We indicate, lastly, that the provision of ICPs within SUS has become an official means of drawing attention to the spiritual dimension of health.(AU)