How Should Clinicians Address Spiritual Concerns of Patients?

Past research and common experience make clear that religion matters to many patients, and matter particularly in the context of suffering and illness. Patient-centered medicine requires physicians to at least pay attention to patients’ spiritual concerns and treat them with respect.

But what does it mean to treat patients’ spiritual concerns with respect, and how should physicians’ pay attention? What role, if any, do physicians have in responding to the spiritual dimensions of patients’ experiences? Below are listed publications by Program faculty and colleagues that address these questions from different vantage points.

Related Publications

• Sulmasy DP. “Spirituality, religion, and clinical care.” Chest. 2009;135:1634-1642.
• Curlin FA. “Spirituality and lifestyle: what clinicians need to know.” South. Med. J.. 2006;99:1170-1171.
• Sulmasy DP. “Spiritual issues in the care of dying patients: . . . it’s okay between me and god”.” JAMA. 2006;296:1385-1392.
• Curlin FA, Hall DE. “Strangers or friends? A proposal for a new spirituality-in-medicine ethic.” J Gen Intern Med. 2005;20:370-374.
• Hall DE, Curlin F. “Can physicians’ care be neutral regarding religion?” Acad Med. 2004;79:677-679.
• Curlin FA, Moschovis PP. “Is religious devotion relevant to the doctor-patient relationship?” J Fam Pract. 2004;53:632-636.
• Hall DE, Curlin F, Koenig HG. “When clinical medicine collides with religion.” Lancet. 2003;362 Suppl:s28-29.
• Sulmasy DP. “A biopsychosocial-spiritual model for the care of patients at the end of life.” Gerontologist. 2002;42 Spec No 3:24-33.

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