Abstract
Spirituality and religion have been found to be important in the lives of many people suffering from severe mental disorders, but it has been claimed that clinicians “neglect” their patients’ religious issues. In Geneva, Switzerland and Trois-Rivières, Quebec, 221 outpatients and their 57 clinicians were selected for an assessment of religion and spirituality. A majority of the patients reported that religion was an important aspect of their lives. Many clinicians were unaware of their patients’ religious involvement, even if they reported feeling comfortable with the issue. Both areas displayed strikingly similar results, which supports their generalization.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by investigator-initiated grant 325100-114136 from the Swiss National Science Foundation and by the Société Académique de Genève. Dr Huguelet reports receiving research funding from Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly. Dr Borras reports receiving investigator-initiated research funding from Bristol-Myers-Squibb. Other authors report no potential conflicts of interest or financial support.
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Appendix
Appendix
Religious and Spiritual Assessment
Religious/Spiritual history |
Family background |
Religious education |
Significant changes in religious beliefs or practices |
Effect of the illness upon Spirituality and/or religiousness |
Current spiritual/religious beliefs and practices |
Religious preference |
Spiritual beliefs |
Private religious practices |
Organizational religious practices |
Support from religious community |
Subjective importance of religion: |
in day-to-day life |
to give meaning to life |
Subjective importance of religion to cope with the illness |
to give meaning to the illness |
to cope with symptoms |
to get comfort |
coping style (self-directing, deferring or collaborative) |
Synergy of religion with psychiatric care |
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Borras, L., Mohr, S., Gillieron, C. et al. Religion and Spirituality: How Clinicians in Quebec and Geneva Cope with the Issue When Faced with Patients Suffering from Chronic Psychosis. Community Ment Health J 46, 77–86 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-009-9247-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-009-9247-y