See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/335841162

A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON RETURNING TO HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Article · September 2019

CITATION READS
1 978

2 authors:

Colin G. Pennington Lacie Webb

Tarleton State University Samford University
93 PUBLICATIONS 190 CITATIONS 4 PUBLICATIONS 9 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Attachment Theory in Coach-Athlete Relationships View project

Academic book: Current Topics in Kinesiology and Sport Pedagogy View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Colin G. Pennington on 16 September 2019.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON RETURNING TO
HEALTH AND WELLNESS

LACIE WEBB, PT, DPT

SporTherapy
Fort Worth, TX
lwebb1@samford.edu1

COLIN G. PENNINGTON, PHD

Assistant Professor, Tarleton State University - Fort Worth
10850 Texan Rider Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76036
cpennington@tarleton.edu

Abstract: Religion, medicine, and healthcare are related. Research states that religiosity and
spirituality have a positive effect on a patient’s health. There is a high belief in God in the United
States, but clinicians are not inquiring about religion and spiritual aspects in patients’ healthcare
today as patients would prefer. In the case of some physical therapy preparatory programs, the
concepts of health and Christ-like values are related, if not, dependent on one another. This sparks
intrigue into research exploring the intersectionality between Faith, Spirituality, and physical
recovery. The purpose of this article is to (a) discuss what the medical and physical therapy
community states are their broad missions and where those missions overlap with Faith, (b)
provide examples in the literature where Faith and the pursuit of health have been connected and
successful in terms of positive healing, and (c) express the benefit of spiritually-charged
preventative health and physical therapy returning to healthcare.

Keywords: Physical Therapy, Faith Intervention, Occupational Therapy, Spirituality, Physical

Activity.

Statement of Original Unpublished Work: By submitting this document to the Editor in Chief of
CJSCF I am making a Statement of Original Unpublished Work not submitted to another journal
for publication.

1
 Introduction

Religion, medicine, and healthcare have all been related in one way or another in all population
groups since the beginning of recorded history (Koenig, King and Carson 2012). The departure
from the history of linking health, religion, and spirituality is currently taking place in most
cultures. This departure has been particularly prevalent in American culture for a number of
decades. Research denotes that the religious and spiritual practices and beliefs of patients are
powerful factors in coping with serious illnesses, making ethical choices about treatment options
and decisions about end-of-life care (Puchalski 2001; McCormick et al. 2012). In a collection of
2013 polls, 56% of individuals asked claimed that ‘religion is important in their own lives’ and
22% stated that religion is ‘fairly important’ (Gallup 2013). It is shown that, in the United States,
77% of medical patients would like to have their spiritual issues discussed as a part of their medical
care, but less than 20% of clinicians discuss these issues with their patients (King and Bushwick
1994). These polls indicate there is a high belief in God in the United States, but clinicians are not
inquiring about religion and spiritual aspects in healthcare today as patients would prefer.
Therefore, the purpose of this article is to (a) discuss what the medical and physical therapy
community states are their broad missions and where those missions overlap with Faith, (b)
provide examples in the literature where Faith and the pursuit of health have been connected and
successful in terms of positive healing, and (c) express the benefit of spiritually-charged
preventative health and physical therapy returning to healthcare.

The Mission of Medical Care and Physical Therapy

There has been an increased call for attention to various aspects of spiritual challenges as part of
whole-person or holistic care. The National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care has
established standards for clinical practice that include the spiritual, religious, and existential
aspects of care as among the core domains (VanderWeele, Balboni and Koh 2017). Spirituality is
defined a multidimensional part of the human experience and includes cognitive, behaviour, and
philosophic aspects. The cognitive and philosophic aspects include searching for meaning,
purpose, and truth in life, and the behavioural aspect as the way an individual externally manifests
spiritual beliefs and inner spiritual state (Anandarajah and Hight 2001). Religion is defined as an
attempt to respond to mankind’s spiritual questions and that each has developed a specific set of
beliefs, practices, and teachings (Anadarajah and Hight 2001). However, action to include these
aspects in the core domains of care is, at best, limited. Over half of medical schools in the United
States provide opportunities for instruction in spiritual care to their students, but most practicing
physicians did not receive spiritual training while in medical school despite research-based
evidence that including chaplain involvement improved patient satisfaction in the hospital setting
(VanderWeele et al. 2017). Official collaboration between spiritual educators and clinicians is
absent.
In accordance with the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), promoting health
and wellness is an integral responsibility of the therapist. Because therapists often educate their
clients on the benefits of a variety of health-enhancing behaviours, and provide a variety of
movement opportunities, physical therapists may be in an ideal position to promote overall health
and wellness in their patients and clients (Benzer 2015). Movement is a key to optimal living and
quality of life for all people that extends beyond health to every person’s ability to participate in
and contribute to society (APTA 2014). With the broad goal of physical therapy to allow

2
individuals the opportunity to reach their full potential of health and wellness, it is practical that
physical therapy schools would be considerate of individual’s religiosity and spirituality in this
process. The correlation between health outcomes and religious commitment has been evaluated,
and while some disagree, most authors report that positive relationships between religious
commitment and mental and physical health were found in up to 84% of studies that involved a
measure of religious commitment (Anadarajah and Hight, 2001). Therefore, a spiritual history
could – if not should – be incorporated in a school’s curriculum1.
For example, one Christian-affiliated, accredited physical therapy doctoral program
emphasized that their overall mission and vision is to promote the following:

[The program aspires to…] prepare graduates in an interprofessional, Christ-

centered learning community to promote and improve the health and well-being of
individuals and communities. … [The program] emphasizes healing the body,
nurturing the mind and inspiring the spirit through rigorous academics, local and
global service and innovative scholarship… Our mission is to prepare leaders in a
Christian environment who promote health, wellness and quality of life through
excellence in professionalism, scholarship and service. (Samford University 2019)

In the case of this physical therapy preparatory program, the concepts of health and Christ-like
values are related, if not, dependent on one another. This sparks intrigue into research exploring
the intersectionality between faith, spirituality, religiosity, and physical recovery.

The Healing Power of Faith

Research has stated that religiosity and spirituality have a positive effect on a patient’s health.
Religious and spiritual commitment tends to lead to a quicker recovery from illness and surgery.
In a study of heart transplant patients, it was found that patients who participate in religious
activities and expressed that their religious beliefs were important complied better with follow-up
treatment, had improved physical functioning at the 12-month follow-up visit, reached higher
levels of self-esteem, and experienced less anxiety and fewer health worries than patients who did
not view their religious beliefs as important (Harris et al. 1995). As a result, within the medial
field, interest is rising concerning the role of religion as preventative medicine and an alternative
(or supplementary) treatment to physical ailments (Koenig, King and Carson 2012; Price 2018).
Prayer and being a member of a religious community has been shown to have physical, mental,
and economical benefits for patients and physicians alike (Bopp, Peterson and Webb 2012;
Campbell et al. 2007).
Many health professionals recognize that spirituality plays an important role in the
adjustment of individuals and their families after traumatic injuries. However, spirituality is not
always proactively addressed during rehabilitation efforts. Spirituality, and specifically
religious belief, is perceived to sometimes raise difficulties for clients and staff (Jones, Dorsett,
Briggs and Simpson 2018). There is potential for better incorporation of religion and spirituality
into practice. The spiritual needs of clients and their family members during physical
rehabilitation are important and could be better addressed. For example, Jones and colleagues

1
Furthermore, and providing attention to the bio-psycho-social-spiritual model, a patient’s spiritual history could be
included in their personal medical records for reference.

3
(2018) suggested a range of initiatives including staff training and the use of standardized
spiritual assessment tools.
Patients can uncover strength and peace in spirituality, by both deep connections with
family and friends, as well as through religious communities (VanderWeele et al. 2017). However,
modern day practicing clinicians often miss opportunities to include aspects of spirituality when
assessing the health of their patients or even themselves. This recent neglect demonstrates the
departure from history linking health, religion, and spirituality which is currently common in most
cultures (Koenig, King and Carson 2012).
Clinicians can start to acknowledge spiritual health and wellness by incorporating
religious/spirituality-focused questions within the routine social history interview. Brown
University School of Medicine has developed a teaching tool to help begin the process of
incorporating a spiritual assessment into the patient interview in which they employed the acronym
of HOPE questions. The ‘H’ pertaining to the individual’s basic life spiritual resources such as
hope, ‘O’ as organized religion, ‘P’ as practices that are most helpful for the individual, and ‘E’ as
the effects of the individual’s perspective on end-of-life discussions (Anadarajah and Hight 2001).
These religious/spirituality-focused questions do not need to immediately focus on words such as
religion and spirituality, but can allow for open-ended exploration in the individual’s spiritual
resources and concerns. For example, a question phrased, “Do you feel a positive presence while
being physically active while in nature?” meets this objective.
Other example questions may include “Is faith and spirituality important to you?” and “In
your times of need, do you have a religious or spiritual support system you could reach out to?”
Questions such as these maintain respect for the patient while learning important information that
might impact present or future care. In appropriate times, clinicians can also ask if a patient attends
regular religious services, and how attending these services might affect the patients’ physical and
emotional well-being outside of treatment (VanderWeele et al. 2017). Clinicians might also benefit
from attending to their own spiritual health (VanderWeele et al. 2017), as pressing professional
issues related to burnout, avoidable medical errors, attrition, and higher suicide rates among
physicians than among the general population are an increasing concern (Balboni et al. 2013;
Yoon, Daley and Curlin 2017). More opportunities to spiritual resources and practices for medical
students and practicing clinicians could decrease these concerns. Just the act of clinicians
providing spiritual care to patients may encourage clinicians to search for their own internal
spiritual resources (VanderWeele et al. 2017).

Enacting Preventative Medicine

Preventative health is a personal passion of mine. Along that theme, it has also been noted that
preventative health-measures (e.g., decreasing tobacco use, increasing physical activity and
exercise, improving nutritional intake, engaging in safe sexual practices) also appear to be linked
to religion and spirituality (Koenig et al. 2012). Research has suggested the importance of
community leaders (e.g., physical therapists), while demonstrating healthy behaviours, can
increase the chances of on-looking community members to also adopt healthy behaviours and to
adhere to exercise programs (Webb and Bopp 2017).
Paradoxically, generally speaking, key leaders within faith-based organizations (e.g.,
ministers, pastors, preachers) are disproportionately affected by obesity and chronic disease
(Bopp, Baruth, Peterson and Webb 2013). The effectiveness of preventative faith-based health and
wellness programs can be strongly influenced by the attitudes, perceptions, and participation of

4
key leaders within faith-based organizations. As a form of preventative medicine, physical
activity programs endorsed by leaders in the Faith community could potentially influence health-
enhancing behaviours of those who look to them as examples for direction (Webb, Bopp and
Fallon 2013).

Conclusion

Connecting to God through physical activity is a route many individuals may choose to take. For
example, ‘prayer walking’ and ‘walking meditation’ have been shown to serve the dual purposes
of spending time with God and achieving physical activity thorough movement (Koenig et al.
2012). Many Christians pursue to be active and connect with their Faith, while maintaining a
balanced approach to exercise, health, and physical well-being. That said, a balanced approach can
be achieved when healthcare clinicians recognize different spiritual and religious values and
beliefs, and integrate those values and beliefs in the development of the ‘care’ plan for patients. If
done responsibly, healthcare clinicians can incorporate religious and spiritual aspects in their
practice as patients would prefer. Respect for patient values and beliefs can be maintained by
returning to the linkage of health, religion, and spirituality.

Bibliography

American Physical Therapy Association. 2014. “Vision Statement for the Physical Therapy Profession”.
Retrieved from http://www.apta.org/Vision (March 21, 2019).
Anandarajah G. E. Hight. 2001. “Spirituality and Medical Practice: Using the HOPE Questions as a
Practical Tool for Spiritual Assessment”. American Family Physician. 81-88.
Balboni, Michael J., Adam Sullivan, Adaugo Amobi, Andrea C. Phelps, Daniel P. Gorman, Angelika
Zollfrank, John R. Peteet, Holly G. Prigerson, Tyler J. VanderWeele, and Tracy A. Balboni. 2013. "Why
is spiritual care infrequent at the end of life? Spiritual care perceptions among patients, nurses, and
physicians and the role of training." Journal of Clinical Oncology 31, no. 4: 461.
Benzer, Janet R. 2015. “Promoting health and wellness: implications for physical therapist practice.”
Physical Therapy, 95, no. 10: 1433–1444.
Bopp, Melissa, Jane A. Peterson, and Benjamin L. Webb. 2012. "A comprehensive review of faith-based
physical activity interventions." American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 6, no. 6: 460-478.
Bopp, Melissa, Meghan Baruth, Jane A. Peterson, and Benjamin L. Webb. 2013. "Leading their flocks to
health? Clergy health and the role of clergy in faith-based health promotion interventions." Family &
community health 36, no. 3: 182-192.
Campbell, Marci Kramish, Marlyn Allicock Hudson, Ken Resnicow, Natasha Blakeney, Amy Paxton, and
Monica Baskin. 2007. "Church-based health promotion interventions: evidence and lessons
learned." Annual Review of Public Health, 28: 213-234.
Gallup. 2019. Poll - “How important would you say religion is in your own life?” In Religion. Retrieved
from http://www.gallup.com/poll/1690/religion.aspx (March 21, 2019).
Harris, Ronna Casar, Mary Amanda Dew, Ann Lee, Michael Amaya, Laurie Buches, Deborah Reetz, and
Greta Coleman. 1995. "The role of religion in heart-transplant recipients' long-term health and well-
being." Journal of Religion and Health 34, no. 1: 17-32.
Jones, Kate Fiona, Pat Dorsett, Lynne Briggs, and Grahame Kenneth Simpson. 2018. "The role of
spirituality in spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation: exploring health professional perspectives." Spinal
Cord Series and Cases 4, no. 1: 54.
King D. E., B. Bushwick. 1994. “Beliefs and attitudes of hospital inpatients about faith, healing and
prayer”. Journal of Family Practice, 39: 349-352.

5
 Koenig, Harold, Dana King, and Verna B. Carson. 2012. Handbook of religion and health. Oxford
University Press. USA.
McCormick, T.R., Hopp, F., Nelson-Becker, H., Ai, A., Schlueter J.O., Camp J.K. 2012. “Ethical and
Spiritual Concerns Near the End of Life”. Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Aging, September:
301-313.
Price, Harry. 2018. "More than medicine: the role of physical activity, psychological interventions, and
religion and culture in a primary care medical setting." Kent State University Conference. Kent, OH.
Puchalski C. M. 2001. Spirituality and Health: The Art of Compassionate Medicine. Hospital
Physician, March: 30-36.
Samford University. 2019. “School of Health Professions: About”. Retrieved from
https://www.samford.edu/healthprofessions/default (March 21, 2019).
VanderWeele, Tyler J., Tracy A. Balboni, and Howard K. Koh. 2017. "Health and spirituality." Journal of
the American Medical Association, 318, no. 6: 519-520.
Webb, Benjamin L., and Melissa J. Bopp. 2017. "Results of walking in faith: A faith-based physical activity
program for clergy." Journal of Religion and Health 56, no. 2: 561-574.
Webb, Benjamin, Melissa Bopp, and Elizabeth A. Fallon. 2013. "A qualitative study of faith leaders’
perceptions of health and wellness." Journal of Religion and Health, 52, no. 1: 235-246.
Yoon, John D., Brendan M. Daley, and Farr A. Curlin. 2017. "The association between a sense of calling
and physician well-being: a national study of primary care physicians and psychiatrists." Academic
Psychiatry 41, no. 2: 167-173.

Author Bio: Lacie M. Webb (PT, DPT) is a recent physical therapist graduate from Samford University in
Birmingham, AL and received a B.S. in Biology from The University of Alabama in 2016. Lacie has a
variety of clinical experiences including post-operative orthopedic surgery rehabilitation, acute care in
cardiac intensive care unit, sports medicine rehabilitation, and rehabilitation to individuals with
neurological impairments. She has served as volunteer, technician, and student physical therapist in
numerous cities, and has experience working with patients possessing a wide-range of functional abilities.
The majority of Lacie’s clinical interests have focused on sport-related injuries, and return-to-sport and
injury preventative programs. Preventative health is one of Lacie’s passions and she incorporates all aspects
of preventative health in her clinical practice. Outside of work, one of Lacie’s passions is involvement in
medical mission trips. Her mission is to live out the message in 1 Peter 4:10, “Each of you should use
whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

Author Bio: Colin G. Pennington (PhD) is an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at Tarleton State
University where he works with Exercise Science majors and carries out research on physical education
teacher effectiveness and other pedogogical and health-related applications of the kinesiology sub-
disciplines. Colin currently teaches courses including Physiology of Exercise, Anatomical Kinesiology,
Capstone in Kinesiology, and formally a number of courses within the sport pedagogy sub-discipline of
kinesiology. His interests and research focus on teacher socialization, physical education teacher training,
character development programs within physical education and sport, and health and wellness.

View publication stats