A number of studies published in medical journals have documented a variety of health benefits from prayer and from engaging in religious activities. Whether these favorable outcomes are the result of mind-body physiology, the benefits of socialization, divine intervention or some other unidentified factor remains a subject of ongoing debate. Even talking about the distinction between religion and spirituality can sometimes be controversial. It is a challenge to talk about the benefits of belief systems without seeming to imply superiority of one belief system over another. Data is the great equalizer that allows people of all faiths (or lack thereof) to sit at the same table for a long overdue discussion of the role of beliefs in the healing process. 

Dr. Herbert Benson, a Harvard trained cardiologist and well known author, explores this fascinating and important subject in the "Spirituality in Healing" seminars which have been attended by thousands of physicians over the past few years. An impressive plurality of belief systems are discussed at these seminars in the context of how beliefs can affect both physiology and clinical outcomes. The whole field of mind-body medicine, based on the growing body of research documenting the relationships between our thought processes and our physiology ties in nicely with any discussion of the effects of spirituality in healing.

As we all know the mind-body connection can cause confounding results in research. This is why we do randomized controlled trials - to eliminate the placebo effect which is a classic example of beliefs affecting physiology and outcomes. In research we strive to eliminate the mind-body effect in order to better understand the effect of the intervention being studied. Somehow this necessary research precaution seems to have spilled over into the non-research setting of day to day clinical practice. The idea that to remain objective, medical scientists we must treat patients despite their belief systems can be a serious handicap in the clinical setting. 

Many physicians, Dr. Benson included, are most comfortable explaining the health effects of spirituality in terms of the mind-body connection - thereby skirting the more controversial topic of whether or not any particular belief system has advantages over others. The natural extension of this logic would be to call religion "the placebo of the masses," to steal from Marx and add a psychoneuroimmunologic twist. Personally I feel there is more to the story than mere mind-body physiology. The important thing is that from a clinical perspective it doesn't matter which camp you're in. A pragmatist would say that it doesn't matter whether you believe that religious beliefs manifest their clinical effects entirely through mind-body physiology, socialization, divine intervention, or some other means, when the data suggests that kneeling does in fact affect healing. The question is, how can we most effectively and ethically acknowledge this and incorporate it into health care for the benefit of our patients?

In an acknowledgment that spiritual beliefs are important to the healing process and out of a desire to foster this awareness within our hospitals Centura Health is hosting one of Dr. Benson's world renowned Spirituality in Healing seminars in March of 2000 at the Adams Mark Hotel in Denver. For those of you interested in learning more about this fascinating topic, which integrates the art, science and soul of medicine, I encourage you to attend this worthwhile seminar. Come for the data and stay for the soul or come for the soul and stay for the data. Either way you will be enriched by the experience.