Prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of spiritual healer use: findings from the National Survey of American Life

Knowledge of local folk healers, the so-called whisperers, among paramedic students from eastern Poland

CONTEXT

So far, the phenomenon of folk healers in Podlasie (eastern Poland) has not attracted the interest of medical professionals. There are no statistics describing the scale of the phenomenon. The study aimed to find out whether young adults undertaking studies and those around them use the help of whisperers.

DESIGN AND SETTING

43 student paramedics took part in the study. Parents of all participants lived in Podlasie or adjacent counties. They answered the survey questions and participated in the discussion on alternative methods of treatment.

RESULTS

Every fourth student paramedic reported that a whisperer was active within a radius of 20 km from his/her parents' residence. 60.5% of student paramedics have personal/family experience or friends using a whisperer.

CONCLUSIONS

Using the help of whisperers seems to have the features of a lifestyle element among educated young people from Podlasie. Non-disappearance of the tradition of healing by whispering and obligatory transfer of heritage to younger people before the expected loss of physical strength or death of a whisperer makes it possible to plan interesting biomedical research on healing and healers' predispositions.

International Cross-Sectional Study on the Effectiveness of Okada Purifying Therapy, a Biofield Therapy, for the Relief of Various Symptoms

Objective: To investigate whether differences exist in the effectiveness/safety of a single session of Okada Purifying Therapy (OPT), a type of biofield therapy, among those from different ethnicity/cultures, and to analyze factors associated with the outcomes in a real-world setting.

Design: Pre–post test design using convenience sampling methods.

Setting: Home setting.

Subjects: A total of 11,303 individuals aged 16 years or older from 14 different countries (>1000 individuals each from Japan, the United States, Thailand, Chile/Peru, and <200 individuals each from Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, Belgium, and France). More than 50% of the subjects were themselves OPT practitioners, and more than 50% of the treatments were administered in an environment where the practice of OPT was promoted.

Intervention: Participants received a single session of OPT lasting 30 min or longer from the volunteer practitioners. They self-reported the changes in overall symptoms, physical pain, anxiety/depression, and dizziness/palpitation.

Outcome measures: Improvement/exacerbation rates of each symptom and factors associated with symptom improvement were analyzed.

Results: Of the participants, 77.5%, 75.6%, 78.4%, and 73.8% reported an improvement of overall symptoms, physical pain, anxiety/depression, and dizziness/palpitation, respectively. The improvement rates were consistently higher among participants from Chile/Peru than those from Japan, the United States, and Thailand (p < 0.001), and among those who had received a longer therapy (p < 0.001). Spanish/Portuguese speaking countries almost always showed high improvement rates; conversely, Japan showed a lower rate in each symptom. Participants' gender, reasons for participation, previous experience, and location of the session were also associated with the improvement of different symptoms. These findings occurred regardless of the participants' age or presence/absence of illness. In terms of safety, the exacerbation rates of symptoms were 2.8%, 2.5%, 0.8%, and 1.7%, respectively. Of those who expressed symptoms exacerbation, 71.6% recovered in a few hours. None of them needed emergency medical treatment.

Conclusions: In those who were often sympathetic to OPT and/or in an authorized location, OPT was effective and safe across countries with ethnic/cultural differences; however, participants' country of residence and duration of the session were independently associated with the changes in various symptoms. (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03994809).

Spiritual healing from Iranian cancer patients' viewpoints: A hybrid concept analysis

BACKGROUND

Spiritual healing is a complementary and alternative treatment with different meanings in different cultures and religions. However, the concept has not been defined from the cancer patients' points of view. The present study was done with the aim of concept analyses of spiritual healing from Iranian cancer patients' viewpoints.

METHODOLOGY

The study was done using a hybrid method at three phases including of theoretical study, field study, and final analysis. In the theoretical study phase and using the keyword "spiritual healing," pertinent articles were searched in main databases. In the field study phase, ten cancer patients were interviewed, and in the final phase, the two other phases were analyzed. After determining features, antecedents, and consequences, a conclusive definition of spiritual healing from Iranian cancer patients' viewpoints was proposed.

FINDINGS

Spiritual healing from Iranian cancer patients' viewpoints was featured with four themes, including connection with paranormal forces; effective, noninvasive, inexpensive, and efficient therapeutic method; a way to achieve piece, adaptation, and health and influenced by cultural and religious beliefs. Spiritual healing is a complementary and alternative treatment that helps careseekers to achieve health through paranormal forces and energies. As the findings showed and according to the participants' viewpoints, the source of such forces and energies was divine force and the healers were mediums to transfer the energy.

CONCLUSION

The findings supported that religion and faith were the key elements of spiritual healing in the Iranian Islamic context.

Western esoteric healing II: A taxonomy of sources of therapeutic knowledge

This article, the second in a two-part series, continues an exploration of Western esoteric healing, with special reference to its sources of therapeutic knowledge. First, the taxonomy introduced in the first paper is applied to a selection of representative esoteric healing systems, traditions, or organizations. These include respective groups whose therapeutic knowledge originates in and is transmitted via channeling, initiation, or empirical observation or validation, as well as groups whose knowledge comes through a combination of sources. Discussion is provided of Western esoteric traditions with substantial therapeutic and/or diagnostic teachings exemplifying these sources of knowledge. This entails a detailed unpacking of a wide range of medical and health-related information originating in historical and primary-source material on more than a dozen healing traditions. Recommendations are offered for follow-up investigation, including historical and social-historical, ethnographic, and medical and health-related research.

Western esoteric healing I: Conceptual background and therapeutic knowledge

This article, the first of a two-part series, explores the subject of Western esoteric healing. First, conceptual background is offered on Western esotericism and traditions of esoteric healing. Second, the concept of therapeutic knowledge, which emerged from the philosophy of medicine and medical anthropology, is introduced and described in detail, including its application to the study of esoteric healing. Third, a taxonomy is proposed for sources of such knowledge in respective esoteric healing systems, traditions, or organizations. These sources are channeling, initiation, and empirical observation or validation. In the second article, examples will be given for each category of the taxonomy, followed by recommendations for further study.

Religion and Health: exploration of attitudes and health perceptions of faith healing users in urban Ghana

BACKGROUND

The main aim of the study was to explore the attitudes and health perceptions of faith healing users in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. This has become necessary because faith healing practice is an important area but remains neglected in the health care literature. In an age when biowestern medicine is touted as the cure for most diseases, understanding how and why individuals seek alternative treatment, specifically faith healing modalities may help to develop more effective health care interventions.

METHODS

We employed exploratory study design of purely qualitative research approach involving 40 conveniently selected participants from four different purposively selected faith healing centres to get a maximum variation of experiences and opinions on the time of consultation, perceived effectiveness and challenges of faith healing practices in Ghana. In-depth interviews were conducted from 10th June to 30th July, 2017. Data were thematically analysed and presented based on the a posteriori inductive reduction approach.

RESULTS

The main findings were that faith healers served as the first port of call for disease curing and prevention for most users. Consumers of faith healing perceived their health status to be good due to the perceived effectiveness of faith healing for curing of health problems. However, users faced challenges such as stigmatisation and victimisation in seeking health care.

CONCLUSION

This study has provided the first baseline evidence in this important area of inquiry that has been neglected in the scholarly discourse in Ghana. By implication, users' positive attitudes and perceptions toward faith healing call for integration policies that allow formal medical services to have open idea to faith healing practices in Ghana.

Prevalence and Religious Predictors of Healing Prayer Use in the USA: Findings from the Baylor Religion Survey

Using data from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey (N = 1714), this study investigates the prevalence and religious predictors of healing prayer use among US adults. Indicators include prayed for self (lifetime prevalence = 78.8 %), prayed for others (87.4 %), asked for prayer (54.1 %), laying-on-of-hands (26.1 %), and participated in a prayer group (53.0 %). Each was regressed onto eight religious measures, and then again controlling for sociodemographic variables and health. While all religious measures had net effects on at least one healing prayer indicator, the one consistent predictor was a four-item scale assessing a loving relationship with God. Higher scores were associated with more frequent healing prayer use according to every measure, after controlling for all other religious variables and covariates.

Psychosocial correlates of using faith healing services in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: a comparative cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

In this study, we compared the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and the characteristics of those who either use or do not use faith healers (FHs) services. We also assessed the independent factors of study subjects associated with using FHs.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study compared those who use FHs (n = 383) with a control group of those who do not use them (i.e., shopping mall visitors, n = 424) using a survey of sociodemographic characteristics and a validated Arabic version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI 6.0).

RESULTS

Participants who ranked higher among FH users included males, people who were either married, divorced, or widowed, those with less education, and those with lower income. They were more likely to report past medical and psychiatric history. Those with diagnosable psychiatric disorders were more likely to visit FHs, especially if the diagnosis was of psychotic and bipolar disorders. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders was higher among FH users, and depressive and anxiety disorders were the most prevalent.

CONCLUSIONS

The study showed that having past psychiatric history and a current psychiatric disorder are risk factors for using FHs. Also, a high percentage of FH users had a diagnosable psychiatric disorder. Further research should assess how to facilitate their access to the mental health system.