Sees need for soul in healing

Dr. Frederic Craigie Jr., a clinical psychologist and behavioral sciences coordinator with Maine-Dartmouth Family Practice Residency Program in Augusta, Maine, discussed "Weaving Spirituality into the Life of Healthcare Organizations" during a seminar.

As a clinician, educator and researcher, he has been interested for many years in the interface of spirituality with health and healthcare delivery.

He cited a recent study on the mortality rates among patients who underwent elective heart surgery. A researcher asked patients if they were part of a community, such as a parish, and if they possessed a sense of strength and comfort from their religious beliefs.

Among patients who answered "no" to both questions, 21 percent had died within six months following surgery. Those who responded "no" to one of the questions showed an 8 percent mortality rate within the six-month period. Among those who answered "yes" to both questions, the mortality rate within six months after surgery was a mere 3 percent.

Those statistics would seem to indicate that "people who have a sense of meaning and purpose, who have a story about them, do better," Dr. Craigie noted.

Speaking about healthcare workers, Dr. Craigie pointed out that "providing spiritually sensitive care is not a matter of the application of techniques."

To illustrate his point, he told about a colleague who was counseling a man whose wife had died but was not making much progress with him. One day, as they were walking outside, the doctor noticed a dead butterfly on the ground, picked it up and gave it to the man.

As tears began to stream down the man's face, he spoke for the first time about the devastation of losing his wife. The doctor's simple action led to the man's healing, and it wasn't an idea found in books, Dr. Craigie remarked.

Dr. Craigie offered four suggestions for introducing spirituality into healthcare organizations:

* gather stories,

* affirm the spirituality that already is present among patients and employees,

* model the community that you want to create (a tip geared toward senior management) and

* understand the mission of the facility.

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