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Perspectives of Indian Traditional and Allopathic Professionals on Religion/Spirituality and its Role in Medicine: Basis for Developing an Integrative Medicine Program

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Abstract

Allopathic medical professionals in developed nations have started to collaborate with traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine (TCAM) to enquire on the role of religion/spirituality (r/s) in patient care. There is scant evidence of such movement in the Indian medical community. We aim to understand the perspectives of Indian TCAM and allopathic professionals on the influence of r/s in health. Using RSMPP (Religion, Spirituality and Medicine, Physician Perspectives) questionnaire, a cross-sectional survey was conducted at seven (five TCAM and two allopathic) pre-selected tertiary care medical institutes in India. Findings of TCAM and allopathic groups were compared. Majority in both groups (75 % of TCAM and 84.6 % of allopathic practitioners) believed that patients’ spiritual focus increases with illness. Up to 58 % of TCAM and allopathic respondents report patients receiving support from their religious communities; 87 % of TCAM and 73 % of allopaths believed spiritual healing to be beneficial and complementary to allopathic medical care. Only 11 % of allopaths, as against 40 % of TCAM, had reportedly received ‘formal’ training in r/s. Both TCAM (81.8 %) and allopathic (63.7 %) professionals agree that spirituality as an academic subject merits inclusion in health education programs (p = 0.0003). Inclusion of spirituality in the health care system is a need for Indian medical professionals as well as their patients, and it could form the basis for integrating TCAM and allopathic medical systems in India.

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Acknowledgments

This study was made possible by the generosity in time, personal, and financial support of HELP and AdiBhat Foundations in USA and India, respectively. HELP Foundation is a non-profit organization in Omaha, NE, USA, serving the underprivileged population with its community urgent care clinics. AdiBhat is a non-profit organization founded in New Delhi to develop spirituality as a medical subject. Sincere thanks to Dr. Curlin F. A. (University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA) for providing his RSMPP survey questionnaire to conduct our study. We appreciate the support of Dr.Vijay Kumar, Commissioner of the State department of AYUSH, for permitting us to conduct the study at the AYUSH institutes. Many thanks for dean Dr. V. N. Jindal for his permission and guidance to initiate the study at Goa Medical College, Goa. Thanks goes to Dr. M. S. Kulkarni at Goa Medical College and Dr. Sharavi Gandham at Univ. of Washington for their invaluable statistical inputs. We also like to appreciate all the staff at HELP Foundation for participating in the focus group discussions and other research processes leading to the development of our supplementary survey questionnaire. Finally, we would like to thank all our research respondents for donating their invaluable time and providing their opinions and perspectives toward a successful completion of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AdiBhat Foundation, R-90, Greater Kailash-I, New Delhi, 110048, India

    P. Ramakrishnan

  2. 21332 38th Avenue SE, Bothell, WA, 98021, USA

    P. Ramakrishnan

  3. Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Goa Medical College, Goa University, Goa, India

    A. Dias

  4. Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Goa Medical College, Goa University, Goa, India

    A. Rane

  5. B.R.K.R. Government Ayurvedic Medical College, Hyderabad, India

    A. Shukla & N. SatyaPrasad

  6. Gandhi Institute of Yoga and Naturopathy, Hyderabad, India

    S. Lakshmi

  7. Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine, Hyderabad, India

    B. K. M. Ansari & A. Mushtaq

  8. National Institute of Siddha Medical Sciences, Chennai, India

    R. S. Ramaswamy

  9. J.S.P.S Government Homeopathic Medical College, Hyderabad, India

    A. R. Reddy

  10. Clinical Faculty, Help Foundation of Omaha, Omaha, NE, USA

    A. Tribulato & A. K. Agarwal

  11. Department of Pediatrics, Goa Medical College, Goa University, Goa, India

    J. Bhat

  12. Sweekaar-Upkaar Rehabilitation Institute for Handicapped, Osmania University, Secunderabad, India

    P. H. Rao

  13. National Institute of Mental Health and NeuroSciences, Bangalore, India

    P. Murthy

  14. Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    H. G. Koenig

  15. King Abdulaziz University, Jiddah, Saudi Arabia

    H. G. Koenig

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  1. P. Ramakrishnan
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  2. A. Dias
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  3. A. Rane
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  4. A. Shukla
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  5. S. Lakshmi
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  6. B. K. M. Ansari
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  7. R. S. Ramaswamy
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  8. A. R. Reddy
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  9. A. Tribulato
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  10. A. K. Agarwal
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  11. J. Bhat
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  12. N. SatyaPrasad
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  13. A. Mushtaq
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  14. P. H. Rao
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  15. P. Murthy
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  16. H. G. Koenig
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Correspondence to P. Ramakrishnan.

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Ramakrishnan, P., Dias, A., Rane, A. et al. Perspectives of Indian Traditional and Allopathic Professionals on Religion/Spirituality and its Role in Medicine: Basis for Developing an Integrative Medicine Program. J Relig Health 53, 1161–1175 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9721-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-013-9721-2

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