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Rabbis and Health: A Half-Century Review of the Mental and Physical Health Care Literature:1950–1999

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Abstract

Electronic searches were conducted on PubMed and the American Psychological Association's database (PsycINFO) for articles that discussed the role of rabbis in relation to some aspect of healthcare. The two searches were conducted in each electronic database using the search-terms: (1) (rabbi OR rabbinical OR synagogue) OR (2) (Judaism OR Jewish) AND (clergy OR chaplain). Articles were classified by the year of their publication, professional discipline, type of journal (either religious or secular), and type of article: either research, or narrative and expositional. Rabbis were discussed most often in psychology, psychiatry, and behavior-related fields, and close to two-thirds of the articles dealt with mental health concerns. A statistically significant increase in articles across decades was found in the secular journals, r=.98, p≤.01, with over 70% of the articles about rabbis in the secular journals being published between 1980 and 1999. Many of the articles addressed collaboration between rabbis, psychiatrists, and other and mental health professionals and discussed previously identified themes related to professional collaboration and referral.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded, in part, through the generous support of The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation. The authors also would like to thank Administrative Assistant, John Barone, for his help in preparing and editing this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The HealthCare Chaplaincy, Inc. 307 E. 60th St., New York, NY, 10022, USA

    Kevin J. Flannelly, Karen G. Costa & Andrew J. Weaver

  2. Jewish Institute of Pastoral Care, The HealthCare Chaplaincy, New York, NY, USA

    Rabbi Shira Stern

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Harold G. Koenig

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  1. Kevin J. Flannelly
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Correspondence to Kevin J. Flannelly.

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Flannelly, K.J., Stern, R.S., Costa, K.G. et al. Rabbis and Health: A Half-Century Review of the Mental and Physical Health Care Literature:1950–1999. Pastoral Psychol 54, 545–554 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-006-0022-5

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