Help for doctors to attend to spiritual side of health

debbiethrower0
Jan 12
2 min read

(Photo credit: Centre for Ageing Better)

Spiritual health is described as the 'missing link in GP consultations' according to a Church Times article this week reporting on a study by the Templeton Foundation into Spiritual Health Awareness and Recommendations in Primary Care (SHARP).

The report details how many health-care professionals, including GPs and social prescribers, already recognise the importance of spiritual health, and yet they often hesitate to ask about it. They fear overstepping, offending, or being misunderstood. Time pressures and lack of training add to the caution.

'A few expressed anxiety about being accused of proselytising if faith was mentioned at all. But, when clinicians do listen with respect, relationships deepen, trust grows, and both patient and practitioner are more satisfied.'

'To address this', author of the article Dr Ishbel Orla Whitehad ( a GP and researcher in spiritual health) says, 'we co-designed a short, practical course — the SHARP training — for whole-practice teams: doctors, managers, social prescribers, chaplains, parish nurses, and patients with lived experience. Each stage of development was tested in workshops to ensure that the content felt realistic and inclusive. The training draws on the HOPE framework from Brown University, which encourages gentle questions about hope, organised religion, personal spirituality, and the effects that these have on care. It is not a checklist, but an invitation to notice what gives people strength, comfort, and meaning.

During co-design workshops, staff reported that the framework helped them to listen differently. Instead of worrying about “opening a can of worms”, they embraced the idea of training in the topic. Some clinicians rediscovered their own sense of vocation and compassion in the process. Spiritual conversations, they said, could be a rewarding part of their day.'

It is early days but open-access papers from the SHARP study should be available later this year. We'll watch this space.