by Mary Hammond
At a time when the NHS is facing huge financial cuts and government is seeking ways to enhance happiness, a recently-published report suggests that ‘doing God’ is good for both your physical and mental health.
Published by the charity, Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF)1, the verdict of the report Health Benefits of Christian Faith by Dr Alex Bunn and Dr David Randall2 – which draws on evidence from over 1,200 studies and 400 reviews – concludes that being a practising Christian can have significant benefits to both physical and mental well-being. The report also issues a challenge to those who want to stop Christian medics and health professionals from talking to patients about faith.
‘Patients do not simply present biological problems to be solved. Rather, effective medical interventions should address all the dimensions of our humanity. It is clear that most patients value and seek this form of holistic care,’ the report states. And evidence from the studies and reviews have shown an association between faith and a number of positive health benefits, including: protection from illness; coping with illness, and faster recovery from it.
In fact, of all the studies reviewed in the definitive analysis,3 81% showed benefit and only 4% harm. (The 4% were amongst religions where there were typically harsh, judgemental and authoritarian leadership.) But compared to the wealth of evidence of positive health benefits, proven harm has been reported rarely – these being isolated cases of ‘atypical’ religious communities. For example, there have been outbreaks of rubella among the Amish who refused vaccination, and the refusal of Jehovah’s Witnesses to receive blood transfusions is well documented.
So what particular health benefits have been identified in the report? Here are some which are included:
And in one study of 21,204 adults, those who attended church regularly had a life expectancy up to 14 years longer than those who did not.
Benefits to mental well-being
The above results and findings of the report and the conclusion drawn on the positive benefits derived from having a Christian belief are endorsed by a former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. However, he laments the lack of attention given to such strong evidence: ‘if it were anything other than religion and spirituality, then governments and health providers would be doing their utmost to promote it.’4
Yet by contrast, up until 1969 a standard British textbook of psychiatry claimed that religion is for ‘the hesitant, the guilt-ridden, the excessively timid, those lacking clear convictions with which to face life.’5 Not a statement to make the Christian feel good about him or herself!
But there are also strong links between mental and physical health. For instance, one large prospective study demonstrated that a feeling of hopelessness is a powerful risk factor for heart attack and cancer, increasing the death rate two or threefold even in healthy individuals after correcting all the usual ‘medical’ risk factors such as blood pressure, smoking, cholesterol and exercise.6
Listening to the patient’s needs
The report goes on to consider those at the receiving end of medical care. ‘The people we most need to listen to are patients, who typically are more religious than their carers. In one survey, patients and families stated that faith was the second most important factor in their decisions about cancer treatment – whereas the oncologists treating them imagined it would be last on the list.6’ It then goes on to say that modern doctors need to become more ‘patient-centred’ by supporting spiritual care as secular training has tended to exclude some of patients’ deepest concerns. At a time of illness spiritual issues often rise to the surface – questions of worth, mortality and place in the world.
In conclusion, Bunn and Randall’s report states that ‘in contrast to the “popular myth” that the Christian faith is bad for your health, research suggests that faith is associated with longer life, and a wide range of physical and mental health benefits. At the very least, the burden of proof is on those who claim that faith is bad for health and that all forms of spiritual care should be excluded from modern medicine.’
So should doctors prescribe ‘faith’ – what do you think?
Report: Health Benefits of Christian Faith published by CMF
This report is one of a series of CMF files emerging from the discussions of CMF’s medical study group highlighting issues at the interface of medicine and the Christian faith. The authors, both doctors, are Alex Bunn who trained in infectious diseases, and now works as a GP and for CMF with medical students, and David Randall, a senior house officer in general medicine currently working in Queen’s Hospital, Romford.
Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF) was founded in 1949 and is an interdenominational organisation with over 4,500 British doctor members in all branches of medicine and 1,000 student members. A registered charity, it is linked to about 70 similar bodies in other countries throughout the world.
The CMF exists to unite Christian doctors to pursue the highest ethical standards in Christian and professional life and to increase faith in Christ and acceptance of his ethical teaching. For further information visit www.cmf.org.uk
If you would like to read more on the subject:
CMF have a recently-published book At a Given Moment: Faith Matters in Healthcare Encounters by Graham McAll (ISBN: 978-0-906747-41-4).
The author has worked as a general surgeon and inner-city GP. In his book he has gathered a combination of personal anecdotes and reflections from around the world which illustrate the value of understanding the patient’s worldview and spiritual background. There are many intriguing examples and practical tips to help you do this well, along with some pitfalls to avoid!
In a controversial area, Graham clarifies misunderstandings about what constitutes acceptable professional behaviour and explains how the clinician’s own faith can be expressed.
If you would like to purchase a copy it’s available at £8 plus p&p online at www.cmf.org.uk/bookstore/
1. www.cmf.org.uk
2. www.cmf.org.uk/publications/content.asp?context=article&id=25627
3. Koenig HG, McCullough ME, Larson DB. Handbook of Religion and Health. Oxford University Press, 2001.
4. Sims A. Is Faith Delusion? Why religion is good for your health. Continuum, 2009.
5. Mayer-Gross W, Slater E, Roth M. Clinical Psychiatry. Bailliere, Tindall & Cassell 1954-1969.
6. Reference from Bunn & Randall Report
7. Silvestri G et al. Importance of Faith on Medical Decisions Regarding Cancer Care. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2003; 21(7): 1379-1382
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