1. Conceptualizing Spirituality and Religiousness.- 2. Measuring Spirituality and Religiousness in Health Research.- 3. Challenges and Criticisms in the Field of Spirituality, Religiousness and Health.- 4. The Scientific Study of Belief and Pain Modulation: Conceptual Problems.- 5. Spirituality, Religiousness and Mental Health: Scientific Evidence.- 6. Spirituality, Religiousness and Physical Health: Scientific Evidence.- 7. Religious and Spiritual Interventions in Health: Scientific Evidence.- 8. Impact of Religion and Spirituality in Older Persons.- Part II. Clinical Implications of Spirituality, Religiousness and Health.- 9. Religiousness, Spirituality and Health in Secular Society: Need for Spiritual Care in Health care?.- 10. Fostering Well-being: Spirituality and Creativity in Clinical Practice.- 11. Spirituality in Psychiatric Care: an Example of Spirituality Integrated Psychotherapy.- 12. Spiritual Care: the Role of Health Care Chaplaincy.- 13. Understanding Clinical Chaplaincy Approach to Biomedical Ethics: an Imminent Need and a Challenge.- 14. Spiritual Care at the End of Life.- 15. Incorporating and Teaching Spirituality into Medical Education: an Overview of the Field and Possible Educational Strategies.
Dr. Giancarlo Lucchetti is a physician, specialized in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine. He received his MD from the Santa Casa of São Paulo Medical School, Brazil and his PhD from the Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil. He currently works as an Associate Professor at the school of Medicine from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Brazil. Currently, he is the leader of the Geriatric and Gerontology Research Group (NUGGER) and Research coordinator of the Department of Medical Education at UFJF. He also works supervising PhD students in the Health and Public Health programs at UFJF. He is also a Grantee of Research Productivity Scholarship – Level 2 in the area of Medicine for the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). He is enrolled in several research projects concerning the following areas: “Geriatrics and Gerontology”, “Medical Education” and “Spirituality and Health”, being one of the most prolific authors in the area of "Spirituality and Health"in the last decade. He also serves as an editorial reviewer for several indexed journals and has currently more than 150 published or accepted articles in indexed scientific journals.
Dr. Mario Fernando Prieto Peres is a neurologist, Graduated in Medicine at Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Santa Casa de São Paulo (1995), PhD at Universidade Federal de São Paulo (2000). Fellowship at Jefferson Headache Center, Philadelphia, Fellow of the American College of Physicians. Main research lines are migraine comorbidity, chronobiology, melatonin, spirituality and health. Member of the Board of Trustees of the International Headache Society. Member of the steering committee of Brain Research Institute, Albert Einstein Hospital. President of ABRACES, Association for headache patient advocacy. Member of the Core Team of the Global Headache Patient Advocacy Coalition. Secretary of the Brazilian Headache Society.
Dr. Rodolfo Furlan Damiano is a psychiatry resident at Institute of Psychiatry of University of São Paulo (USP). Graduated in Medicine from Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (2011-2017), receiving scholarship from Brazilian Scientific Mobility Program (CAPES) to study at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (2014-2015). Member of the Health, Spirituality and Religiosity Program (Pro-SER) and former member of the Brazilian Medical Spiritist Association - Student Department. Co-editor of the books "A new medicine for a new millennium: the humanization of the medical education" and "Letters to Dr. Bezerra de Menezes", both published in Brazilian Portuguese language. Also, he ia a co-autor of the book "O Problema do Ser, do Destino e da Dor: 100 anos Depois". He also worked as a technical reviewer of the Brazilian third edition of Dr. Harold Koenig Book "Spirituality in Patient Care". His research areas are "Spirituality and Health", "Medical Education", "Empathy", and "Learning Environment".
This book provides an overview of the research on spirituality, religiousness and health, including the most important studies, conceptualization, instruments for measurement, types of studies, challenges, and criticisms. It covers essential information on the influence of spirituality and religiousness (S/R) in mental and physical health, and provides guidance for its use in clinical practice. The book discusses the clinical implications of the research findings, including ethical issues, medical/health education, how to take a spiritual history, and challenges in addressing these issues, all based on studies showing the results of incorporating S/R in clinical practice. It contains case reports to facilitate learning, and suggests educational strategies to facilitate teaching S/R to health professionals and students.