Spirituality is good for your health

Doctors believe that religion, faith and spirituality are good for your health, because of accumulating medical evidence. Expert on religion and medicine will give a course on Spirituality and Healiang at the Meaning Conference in Vancouver, July 20-21, 2002.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2002

Doctors believe that spirituality is good for your health

In the midst of woes resulting from cutbacks in health care, spiritual healing may be one of the few bright lights for distressed patients and doctors. Research has shown that faith provides the only low-tech, low-cost healing, which is universally accessible.

More and more doctors now believe that spirituality and faith play a positive role in health because of accumulating medical evidence.

Harold Koenig, MD, Duke University Medical Center, a leading authority on religion and medicine, will give the distinguished Templeton Foundation public address on Sunday July 21, on the linkage between these two oldest disciplines of health care.

Dr. Koenig will present clinical applications and medical evidence of the health benefits of religious faith and practices. These benefits include longer life, better overall well-being, better recovery from surgery, better ability to cope with life-threatening diseases and lowered depression and anxiety.

Dr. Koenigs talk will be a part of a Course on Spirituality and Healing, funded by the John Templeton Foundation. This course will take place at the Vancouver Airport Conference Centre from July 20 - 21, 2002, in conjunction with the International Meaning Conference.

This course is modeled after the well known Course on Spiritual and Healing offered by Harvard Medical School and will be taught by some of the same faculty,” said Dr. Paul Wong, organizer of the Canadian counterpart and President of the International Network on Personal Meaning (INPM).

Christina Puchalski, MD, Director of the George Washington University Institute of Spirituality and Health, will speak on the role of spirituality in health care. She will introduce the practice of compassionate care, which includes taking spiritual history and helping patients find meaning in their suffering.

According to Dr. Puchalski, more than half of all medical schools in the U.S. have a course on spirituality and medicine. She also observes that doctors are attending conferences on faith and healing in increasing numbers, because they realize that they cannot establish a bond of trust with their patients, nor can they fulfill their own calling, if they only treat physical symptoms, without any regard for their patients spiritual needs.

The Course is also taught by many other distinguished faculty, who will cover a variety of topics such as the spiritual passages of successful aging, hardiness and religiosity, coping with disabilities and cancer, and more.

It offers a unique opportunity for doctors, nurses, occupation therapists, counsellors and hospice workers to learn the power and practice of spiritual healing in medicine. Those interested can register online at www.meaning.ca, email ptpwong@shaw.ca or call 604-513-2034

For more information:
Contact: Dr. Paul Wong
Phone: 604-513-2034