The Role of Spirituality in Health and Mental Health
Course #91984 - $30 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
A large percentage of the population in the United States indicates that they are affiliated or adhere to a specific religious orientation. Despite the general population's reliance on spirituality, the fields of social work, mental health counseling and nursing have been reluctant to introduce and incorporate religion and spirituality in the professional training curricula, and faculty and practitioners are frequently ill-equipped to discuss these themes with clients and patients. At the same time, the emphasis on cultural competency in these fields requires practitioners' understanding, examination, and appreciation of faith, religion, and spirituality, which for many groups are intertwined with their cultural values. This course provides an overview of the impact of spirituality on health and mental health, with an emphasis on minority cultural and spiritual beliefs. An assessment and integration plan is also included.
- INTRODUCTION
- SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGIOSITY
- HISTORICAL ROOTS
- INCORPORATING SPIRITUALITY/RELIGIOSITY INTO PRACTICE
- CHALLENGES IN DEFINING SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGIOSITY
- OVERVIEW OF THE ROLE OF SPIRITUALITY/RELIGIOSITY IN HEALTH
- OVERVIEW OF THE ROLE OF SPIRITUALITY/RELIGIOSITY IN MENTAL HEALTH
- COPING AND SPIRITUALITY/RELIGIOSITY
- CULTURE AND SPIRITUALITY/RELIGIOSITY
- CLINICAL ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTIONS
- ETHICAL ISSUES
- INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION
- CONCLUSION
- RESOURCES
- Works Cited
- Evidence-Based Practice Recommendations Citations
This course is designed for physicians, nurses, and other allied health professionals who work in a clinical practice setting.
The purpose of this course is to raise practitioners' awareness about the role of spirituality in health and mental health, specifically how spirituality is utilized as a coping mechanism and acts as a protective factor toward stress.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Define the concepts of spirituality and religiosity.
- Describe the historical evolution of spirituality and religiosity in the fields of nursing, medicine, social work, and mental health counseling.
- Summarize the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating issues of spirituality into clinical practice and the challenges associated with defining and measuring spirituality.
- Discuss the role of spirituality in the course and prognosis of health conditions.
- Outline the role of spirituality in mental health.
- Analyze the effects that spirituality and religion might have on coping.
- Describe how different ethnicities or cultures define spirituality.
- Identify spiritually sensitive assessment and intervention guidelines and possible ethical issues that might arise.
Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW, received her Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University, School of Social Work. She has clinical experience in mental health in correctional settings, psychiatric hospitals, and community health centers. In 1997, she received her PhD from UCLA, School of Public Policy and Social Research. Dr. Yick Flanagan completed a year-long post-doctoral fellowship at Hunter College, School of Social Work in 1999. In that year she taught the course Research Methods and Violence Against Women to Masters degree students, as well as conducting qualitative research studies on death and dying in Chinese American families.
Previously acting as a faculty member at Capella University and Northcentral University, Dr. Yick Flanagan is currently a contributing faculty member at Walden University, School of Social Work, and a dissertation chair at Grand Canyon University, College of Doctoral Studies, working with Industrial Organizational Psychology doctoral students. She also serves as a consultant/subject matter expert for the New York City Board of Education and publishing companies for online curriculum development, developing practice MCAT questions in the area of psychology and sociology. Her research focus is on the area of culture and mental health in ethnic minority communities.
Contributing faculty, Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
John M. Leonard, MD
Mary Franks, MSN, APRN, FNP-C
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.