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Spiritual Assessment in Mental Health Recovery

Community Mental Health Journal volume 50, pages 447–453 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Mental health recovery-oriented and strengths model proponents recognize spirituality to be a key aspect of the recovery process. In order to incorporate spirituality in practice, practitioners need to know how to conduct spiritual assessment effectively. Although implicit and explicit spiritual assessment approaches have been identified as useful frameworks for conducting spiritual assessment, there is a gap in knowledge about what constitutes effective approaches and questions for addressing spirituality in the lives of people with psychiatric disabilities. To address this gap, focus group interviews were conducted with providers and consumers of mental health services in order to develop practical guidance for spiritual assessment. Focus group participants provided feedback about a list of sample spiritual assessment questions and then suggested principles and questions for practitioners to use. Collective insights from the focus groups formed the basis for recommendations for spiritual assessment.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported in part by the Shumaker Family Foundation and the Office of Mental Health Research and Training at the University of Kansas, School of Social Welfare.

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Affiliations

  1. School of Social Welfare, The University of Kansas, 1545 Lilac Lane, Lawrence, KS, 66044-3184, USA

    Sachiko Gomi & Edward R. Canda

  2. School of Social Work (IUPUI), Indiana University, 902 W. New York Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Vincent R. Starnino

Authors
  1. Sachiko Gomi
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  2. Vincent R. Starnino
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  3. Edward R. Canda
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Correspondence to Sachiko Gomi.

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Gomi, S., Starnino, V.R. & Canda, E.R. Spiritual Assessment in Mental Health Recovery. Community Ment Health J 50, 447–453 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-013-9653-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-013-9653-z

Keywords

  • Spirituality
  • Assessment
  • Mental health
  • Recovery
  • Strengths